


At Last

by PearLynn



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, F/M, Post BotW, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romantic Tension, Short Story, link doesn't have his memories yet, pre-botw sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2020-10-17 04:50:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20615276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PearLynn/pseuds/PearLynn
Summary: He remembered his fall before she intended, and came to her aid before she could comprehend. Now what?Post-BOTW short story, where Link has minimal memory and Zelda has to deal with the stranger that came to her rescue.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> heeeeeeey it's ya boy... I kinda wanted to write this for a long time, but life gets in the way and I honestly didn't have time for it until just now... So this is going to be like, four chapters of post-Calamity angst that leads up to what I hope to be the sequel. In one of my save files, I beat the game with three total memories, the Master Sword and only one Divine Beast. So alas, plot bunnies. Enjoy!

He remembered his fall before she intended.

_No, no, no, no, not yet! _her heart cried in her commune, her despair almost causing her to lose her tether on Ganon's being. All she could do was stare with her divinity as Link clutched at the parts of his chest that had once been gaping and bleeding, now whole. She watched helplessly as he shook his head, pulling his hair between his gloved fingers and disappearing in a flash with a few strokes on the Sheikah Slate.

It felt like ages, waiting for him to reappear.

Longer than the century she held vigil in the Sanctum.

But when his feet reappeared on the pedestal of the Shrine of Resurrection, she felt nothing other than confusion. _Why here?_ Why not Kakariko, demanding an explanation from Impa? Or to find the other locations so he could figure out just why everything happened leading up to his fall? He clearly hadn't gone to many of the places yet- maybe one or two, based on his possession of the Champion's Tunic she had painstakingly embroidered for him over one hundred years ago.

And how on earth did he get that memory so soon without any prompting?

Zelda would have shook her head had she not been incorporeal at the moment. He was _there, _in the Blatchery Plain, hunting down some bokoblins that stole food from the stable, when he passed the very Guardian that had almost killed him.

The one she stood in front of in order to protect him.

He would have seen that, too.

It had happened so abruptly she could _feel _the way his feet stuttered against Hylia's country and he turned to the defunct Guardian to his right. She was not able to watch him at all times, but his action at this moment had taken her focus so keenly she felt like a teenage girl again, not the vessel of a Goddess in a deadlock with the embodiment of evil and malice.

What had been Zelda's heart cried out to him as he collapsed on the stone floor of the Shrine and she searched the expanse of Hyrule for his progress. Only one Divine Beast freed - _Ruta, of course_, she thought - and about a third of the shrines that were speckled across the land had been unlocked and completed. Not even close to the full strength he had when defending her prior to his fall.

He shook as he wept - like earthquakes to her - and Link tossed the Slate away as if it was a piece of trash. The moment it hit the stone floor of the chamber in which he had slept, time seemed to halt. Considering how fast it had gone for the past century, it was an eternity until he finally calmed and stood. He picked up the discarded Slate and after another flutter of fingers he was disappearing again, disconnected from her sight as he traveled as Light along the threads of the Sheikah tech. Again it took too long, but now he was north of the Castle, at one of the stables nestled in the southern foothills of Death Mountain.

Zelda's corporeal being stuttered to life again when she realized where he was going, what he was planning to do.

His footsteps thundered across the ground, passing the stable and marching up the hills that would lead him to the Lost Woods. In the blink of an eye, he was standing in front of the Great Deku Tree, eyes staring up at the ancient being before grasping the Master Sword.

The sensation of his hands wrapping around the hilt was felt around her whole soul, warm and ready, and the voices of the Master Sword sang in her ears in a mirror of her own elation that its master had come back.

The Sword was pulled from the pedestal - its voice sundered to her now that it was back in Link's possession - and suddenly Link was already in the Castle, charging his way through Ganon's hordes of monsters that had made themselves comfortable in her dilapidated home. Ganon tugged on her hold, roaring to life in a challenge to the final member of their battle. When Link stepped into the Sanctum, her focus wavered and she called out to him.

Ganon took advantage of her state and used this chance call to his remaining Blights, forcing them to leave their Divine Beasts to fell the knight that had yet to destroy them. Link unsheathed the Master Sword, the blade glowing in greeting to its ancient foe, and he watched as the Blight that killed Revali emerged first. Link deftly dodged the tornadoes it spewed, countered the slashes of its weapon, and keenly shot bomb arrows into the Blight's single eye.

When it screeched and writhed in defeat, Daruk's murderer stepped in and launched its fire at Link. Her knight - her clever, clever knight - leapt out of the blaze's way and used the updrafts created by the burning wood to soar into the air with his paraglider. He pulled out his bow made from the same technology as the Guardians and launched a barrage of arrows in the same likeness at the monster. And once the beast produced its tainted mimic of Daruk's power, Link was sure to let his bombs created from the Sheikah Slate get sucked in and detonate them in the beast's face. Just as quickly as Medoh's phantom fell, Rudania's spewed out streams of malice and exploded into nothingness. The monster responsible for Urbosa's slaughter then came last, its inhuman noises so loud to her inside Ganon's cocoon that it jarred her trance enough for her to be seared by the burning essence that belonged to her eternal foe. Though unlike Urbosa, Link struck down the Blight with finesse she had never seen in him.

He was only minorly injured from this one, things the grace Mipha had given him would take care of once the battle was over.

Even for not seeking out all of the shrines, Link was in better shape now than he had been before the Calamity struck. The fact that he took down three of the four entities that had killed their friends without so much as breaking a sweat made Zelda ache with the losses they didn't have to suffer. He could have taken them out back then, stopping Ganon from taking their friends, and she wouldn't have had to stay in this vigil for a century.

Ganon took Zelda's heartbroken distraction as his chance to finally break free. She had tethered his being to the Sanctum, but he had created the physical form that was breaking through the cocoon he crafted, bits of Sheikah tech now surging with Malice to take shape as an arachnid-like pig monster. Unfortunately for Ganon, now that he was a physical being, Link could destroy him with the might of the Sword that Seals the Darkness.

As the massive blight crashed through the floor, Zelda held her commune within the beast in order to help Link, no matter how difficult it had been. Without the might of the Divine Beasts and their planned attack, Link had more on his hands than Zelda thought he could handle, despite proving his ability just moments before against three of the four phantoms that killed their friends.

But, as Link always did, he surprised her by striking down the beast with his bow and the might of the Master Sword. Soon, the Calamity was writhing and screeching as his body was demolished under Link's assault as he had done to his ill-prepared Blights. As its body exploded with his filth and its being tried to escape with her through the hole in the ceiling, a clear voice in her head screamed out to her:

_"The Light! You must bring the Light!"_

Zelda focused on Link and pulled his being with them, as she had done when he needed to leave Ruta, and she deposited him on the grassy plains of Hyrule Field, where she steered Ganon's form as he tried to reform himself as complete Malice, his power full once more.

As Zelda told Link of Ganon's origins, she heard the voice in her head again:

_"He cannot strike the Beast with the Sword. He must channel the Light through other means."_

Immediately she thought of his bow and arrows, and she mustered enough strength to create one that had the same draw and weight as the one on his back. It fell from the sky, ready for his capable hands, and when he scooped it up and began charging forward on an auburn mare Zelda focused the very last dregs of her power to show him Ganon's weakest points, perfect places for Link's impeccable aim. As his Light pierced the Malice, Zelda's power was recharged and she was able to show him a new place to hit.

The past few weeks have passed so glacially slow compared to the hundred years that came before, but this moment of Link leaping off his horse, soaring into the air, and drawing back his bowstring to attack the last of the runes Zelda had placed for him... It was so slow Zelda could practically feel time stop when the arrow pierced the demonic eye that laid in the center of Ganon's head.

Her focus became narrow as she felt his Light pierce her being, revitalizing her and giving her the strength to break the bond between her and the beast and let her soar into the sky. Malice still swirled in the air as Ganon left his physical form once more and roared as a smokey demon. But as Ganon became incorporeal, Zelda became whole once again. Her own eyes opened for the first time in a century and she faced down the demon she had fought in the time since.

_You brought this upon yourself, as you always have done._

She could hear his rage, a furious scream in her mind as his response as the voices of the Goddesses filled the void and focused their power behind her. Hylia's touch was the strongest, lifting her arm and flaring to life the Triforce that glowed with the ancient sealing power granted to her blood since time immemorial.

As Her own light expanded from around her, Ganon was swallowed in its infinite glow, his rage-filled shrieks echoing behind the chants of the Goddesses until the Light swallowed him whole, sealing him away in the space between dimensions until the edge of time.

Ganon ceased in this realm, and in the distance Zelda could see Medoh and Rudania turn from the angry magenta to their normal blue, just like the pillars surrounding the Castle, but they both retreated into their respective mountains. She wouldn't be able to see Naboris, but she assumed the same was happening to that Beast as it started retreating southwest into the unmanned parts of the desert.

Her heart ached for the souls that were still likely trapped within.

Ruta sat proudly on her mountain, the red light from her tusks no longer pointing at the Castle, but instead her blue glow was dimmed.

Familiar footsteps on the grass alerted her of her savior, of her beloved knight, finally reuniting with her.

"I've been keeping watch over you all this time," she remarked, truly using her voice for the first time since he was sealed away to heal. It was strange, being a _person _again, but she was willing to fight the strangeness in order to speak to her hero. "I've witnessed your struggles to return to us as well as your trials in battle."

She couldn't face him, not quite yet. She wasn't ready to lay eyes on him for the first time in a hundred years and suddenly be woken up as if this was all a dream. So she keep talking, "I always thought - no, I always _believed_ \- that you would find a way to defeat Ganon."

_Oh, dreams be damned._ She started turning to him, ready to face him once again, and she continued, "I never lost faith in you over these many years..."

She clutched her hands to her chest, heart soaring as she met his eyes and declared, "Thank you, Link... The hero of Hyrule."

Even under the shadow of his hood, his eyes were bright when he looked at her, but his face remained impassive as we listened to her declarations. It was a far cry from the stare he gave her the day he fell, but it was still so open and _alive _her heart couldn't help but soar and beat so fiercely for the first time in a century. She couldn't stop herself from smiling and asking with so much hope she thought her heart may burst, "May I ask... do you really remember me?"

A long moment passed before Link even moved, but the subtle change in his eyes told her the answer she already knew. Despite her excitement and impulsiveness in asking him, she already knew he wouldn't. How could he when he had spent so little time outside of the Shrine of Resurrection? He wasn't as strong as he had been back then, but his courage remained enough to come to her aid.

"I-" He visibly swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut as he shook his head ever-so-slightly with a discomforted look on his face, confirming her suspicions. "I'm sorry."

Hearing his familiar rough voice made her heart sing despite his answer, despite the slight change in the tempo in which he spoke. He had an accent now - like the Sheikah, perhaps? It was very similar to the way she remembered how Impa spoke. Before he spoke more like herself, though with more of the lilt of someone from Faron. This change was not unwelcome, but noticeable nonetheless.

She supposed some things were bound to have changed, so she couldn't complain about one more tiny thing being different.

Tentatively, she took a step toward him, fighting the sudden heaviness in her limbs and the dizziness in her head, and she said, "No, I'm sorry. I knew you wouldn't, considering how soon it has been since you woke in the Shrine. It was rude of me to ask. Please forgive me."

He eyed her with only wariness, none of the recognition she hoped for, and he replied evenly, "Think nothing of it, Princess. Though, we need to get you somewhere safe. Ganon may be gone, but his monsters will remain until they are slain."

Zelda nodded in affirmation, fighting her initial distress at his formality, before taking another step towards him. "Lead the way, sir knight."

His eyebrow quirked up in clear confusion before he started turning towards the horse that had been waiting for him in the field. "I think Kakariko will be sufficient. Can you ride?"

Her answer was a wave of dizziness as she took another step, and Link quickly caught her before she tumbled to the ground. He cradled her against his chest, subjecting her to the achingly familiar smell of _him _that her heart raced, and she smiled bashfully up at him, hoping her blush appeared to be from embarrassment. Her hands inadvertently clutched to his tunic, the nondescript and sturdy style that most travelers favored, green and full of the scent of the wilderness and wood smoke that seemed to cling to him, even when he was in his official uniform of the Royal Guard, and she struggled to regain her equilibrium after that onslaught of sensations.

"S-sorry. It's been a while since I've actually walked..."

Link stared at her, eyes narrowed as he inspected her face, scrutinizing and searching for _something, _before he nodded and swept her legs up and carried her to the horse. The sensation of being touched made her even dizzier than before, despite the comfort of it being Link. She not-so-subtly burrowed her head against his chest and purposefully ignored the questioning stare he gave her. Silently, he lifted her up to the saddle and then climbed up behind her, grabbing the reins from in front of her and clucking the horse into motion. His arms surrounded her as he steered his horse out of the burned field, protecting her in a way, and but still distant enough that she wasn't overwhelmed with the feeling of drowning in his touch.

The next few hours went by in a blur - either her mind wasn't accustomed to the normal flow of time, or her body was jarred from being so suddenly solid again that it was having a hard time to adjust - and soon they were riding down a path that Zelda did not recognize. That wasn't saying much, however, because the entirety of Hyrule had changed in the past century, from floods and fires and death. She recognized ruins as places she had once visited in her youth, saw roads that had changed from when she last walked upon them the day of the Calamity. Even the knight behind her, ever vigilant in his protection of her, had changed enough in his appearance as he kept that slight distance between them. Though he was fully clothed, the slivers of skin she had seen so far had revealed scars that she was unfamiliar with, ones gained during the Great Calamity and in his journeys since waking from his long slumber, and the only thing that had remained from before was the silence he kept as he steered his horse under an archway that was clearly Sheikah.

Kakariko was almost the exactly the same as it had been the day they passed through to go to Mount Lanayru, save for the people. The village used to be filled to the brim with Sheikah, each house filled with at least three generations of a family, but now only a few were left. And most of those that were seemed to be old enough to remember the Calamity itself.

Her heart ached even more. Has all of Hyrule suffered the same fate as the Sheikah in the past century? How many of her people were actually left after a hundred years of ruin?

Link slowed his horse in front of the Goddess's Statue and hopped down from the saddle, then extended his arms out to her. She looked at her dress, then to him and his impassive stare, then back to her dress, and sighed. She realized at this point in time, propriety didn't matter anymore. She was the heir to a throne of nothing; Hyrule was destroyed and the people survived for the past one hundred years without their monarchs. Ganon may have been defeated, but he did his job. How could she rule over nothing?

Being Princess didn't matter anymore, and neither did the decorum that came along with it.

So she swung her leg over and slid down from the horse, letting Link catch her and help her get steady. Unfortunately, the unease she had been feeling in her body was overwhelming, and she clutched onto his arms as her knees gave out again and she struggled to keep her balance. It seemed her legs wanted to completely stop working overall.

Link held onto her, worry etching his features despite his unfamiliarity to her, and he asked in that quiet voice of his, "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head and managed a smile, though somewhat strained. "No, I'm fine. It just seems my body is not used to me, yet, after not being utilized for a century. It only feels like I slept on my legs wrong..."

His brow furrowed before he lifted her without missing a beat and carried her to the grandest house in the village, the home of the village elder. She felt dizzy again as the next moments transpired too quickly, from Link _asking permission _from the guards in front of the stairs to pass, to him carrying her up the stairs and opening the double doors without much struggle, and him bringing her inside. While those moments had gone by so quickly, seeing Impa, her dear friend from before the Calamity, old and small as she sat on a comically tall stack of cushions, had made time stop entirely.

"The darkness coating Hyrule seems to have been lifted," she remarked in the scratchy and quiet voice attributed to old age, the sound hitting Zelda straight to her heart.

"Impa," Zelda breathed out, in relief and shock, both of which seemed appropriate, and she did her best to lower her legs out of Link's iron grip. Strangely enough, he didn't let her and instead carried her to the old woman under the too-big hat.

"It seems the Goddess saved your youth in your commune," Impa replied in what could only be described as a serious tone, but her smile and glimmer in her eyes spoke of the youthfulness and mirth she had when she and Zelda were peers a century ago. "Unfortunately She did not grace me, as well. It is so good to see you, my dear."

Link graciously lowered her in front of Impa, after seemingly pulling a cushion out of nowhere for her to sit upon, and he took a few steps back before murmuring, "I will leave you two, for now."

"Don't go far, sir knight," Impa called out to him as she clutched Zelda's hand. "There's still much to discuss."

Zelda watched as Link struggled with his composure - a strange but not unwelcome difference from the man she knew in the past - before nodding and heading out the door. The silence was deafening when it closed behind him, and Zelda had half a mind to go after him and make sure he was alright after seeing such clear conflict and distress on his face. He was only slightly more vocal and open with his expressions than he had been a century prior, but there was still something about him that she did not recognize anymore. He was a completely different person, a stranger, and she had just upended the whole world he barely knew.

With a sigh, she looked back to her old friend and managed a smile. "We did it, Impa. You did everything I asked for and more. Thank you so much."

The old woman laughed and tugged on Zelda's arm, a sign for the princess to rise and embrace her, and as Zelda wrapped her arms around Impa's diminutive shoulders, the Sheikah replied, "And now I can rest."

"Not yet," Zelda shot back, fighting a laugh as she sunk into the hug. Link touching her right after they defeated Ganon made her acutely aware of her _need _for touch, and holding such a frail Impa now reminded her of _everything _that had been lost in her century-long commune with Hylia and Ganon, and of the things she hadn't lost quite yet.

"I'm surprised your Hero came for you so soon," Impa remarked as they pulled out of the hug. Outside, Zelda could hear the beginnings of rain start to hit the roof of the house, a welcome sound that she didn't realize she missed. "He only just came to me a few days ago after recovering the first of his lost memories and I gave him his tunic, as you requested. Did he free anymore of the Divine Beasts? Or gain more memories? I saw the Master Sword is on his back, so it is safe to assume he has conquered at least some Divine Beasts."

Zelda's heart fell and she clasped her hands in her lap. It still felt strange to _be _instead of merely _exist _as she had done the past one hundred years, so feeling her actual dress under the backs of her hands and smelling the earthy incense Impa favored, feeling her dry throat and a vague sense of hunger, was all so strange she had to adjust before reminding herself to take a deep breath and say, "Ruta is free, but the other three have withdrawn and hidden in their mountains. Link defeated the beasts that roamed their halls when Ganon called them to the Castle to fight him, but I do not know what that means for the spirits of the Champions trapped within. I haven't been able to hear them since I was in my commune. When they fell, I could hear their cries for help in my mind, telling me of my powers starting to manifest. However, I cannot hear them, not even Mipha. I'm not sure if it is because my power is dwindling after all this time, or if their souls have not been truly freed, but there's no way of knowing unless we investigate."

Impa hummed and patted Zelda's hand. "In due time, Princess. For now, wash up, eat something, and rest. You have been through much for the past century, you deserve a break."

Zelda's body didn't quite feel _right _yet, more or less just existing at this point. She was aware of her body starting to regain its functions after not being used for so long, but not quite cognizant of actual hunger or thirst or the need to use the facilities. She was conscious, however, of her need to bathe and take off her wretched prayer dress.

"A bath would be a good start," Zelda agreed with a smile. "And then I will see to getting some food. I understand you kept Link's tunic, so I am praying that you kept my clothing safe for me, as well? I would commit crimes for a pair of pants right about now."

Impa let out a breathy laugh and slapped her knee in jest. "Did I keep your clothes? I'm old, not stupid. I know how hard it is to find reliable clothing this day and age. I'll get them taken out for you while you're cleaning up."

Zelda grinned and attempted to stand, but her legs still seemed unable to carry her weight and she fell back on her rump with a disappointed, _"Oof!"_

"Are you still having difficulties walking?" Impa inquired, her face lined with worry. "When Link was carrying you in, I thought for a moment that you were injured."

Zelda shook her head. "Not injured, just not used to being a physical being again. Though I could use some help getting up and to the bath house. After that, I should be able to manage on my own."

"I certainly hope your Hero hasn't gone too far," Impa mused before turning towards the stairs that led to the loft. "Paya, dear! Can you please come down?"

There was a shuffling from upstairs - _there was someone up there? - _and quickly a young Sheikah woman was coming down the stairs. She was the spitting image of Impa in her youth, much younger though than the age that Zelda had met Impa, but with the same long limbs and Sheikah Eye tattooed on her forehead. She glanced nervously between Impa and Zelda, clearly confused, and she wrung her hands in front of her chest.

"Y-yes, grandmother?"

Impa smiled, clearly used to Paya's timid demeanor, and said, "Could you be a dear and go find Master Link? I doubt he strayed far from the house. The Princess is in need of his assistance."

Paya's face turned an adorable shade of pink at the mention of Link, and she squeaked before nodding fervently and hustling out of the house. It was clear what Paya's opinions of Link were, no doubt well-founded, considering Zelda's own in the past, and she mused over what she had missed despite watching over Link so closely since he woke up mere weeks ago.

"Do not fret, child," Impa said to her, breaking Zelda from her thoughts. "My granddaughter is just a bit shy."

Zelda felt her own cheeks heat and she ducked her gaze from Impa's. "That wasn't exactly-"

"And she grew up on tales of you and Master Link," Impa cut in gently, causing Zelda to lift her eyes to her again. "As soon as she saw you and Link arrive in the village, she hurried back inside to tell me. And then proceeded to rush up those stairs. To her, you are as much of a legendary hero as Link, and she grew up knowing of your love for him. I know many a times she pondered about his love for you, but never held onto a false hope that he would hold a candle to her like he had for you before the Calamity."

Her cheeks got even hotter and she sputtered, "I-I didn't -! He didn't- Even so, he still has lost his memories. He couldn't possibly _now, _even if he did in the past!"

There was a glimmer in Impa's eyes as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Grandmother!"

Both Impa and Zelda turned towards the open front door to see Paya standing in the doorway, soaked to the bone from the rain, and a panicked look on her face.

"What is it child?"

"It's Master Link!" Paya exclaimed, the fear in her voice caused a pit of dread to form in Zelda's stomach. "He's gone!"

* * *

_tbc._


	2. Chapter 2

Panic settled in Zelda's stomach like a cold stone, causing her heart to hammer restlessly against her chest as she clambered to her feet and forced her way over to Paya. "What do you mean, he's gone?! He just left the house not ten minutes ago!"

Paya's face was rudy as she looked at the Princess and she covered it with her hands, shaking her head as she exclaimed, "I don't know! I went out to go get him and Dorian told me that Link had gone up the hill to the shrine and when I went up there -"

Without waiting for Paya to finish, Zelda pushed past the Sheikah girl and stumbled out of the house. She found her strength in that moment, knowing that tracking down Link was more important than any discomfort she found in using her body again. The walk down the stairs felt like knives were continuously thrust into her thighs, but she ignored it in order to race up the path that led to the hill. The rain was coming down in sheets now, soaking her and her thin dress within seconds, but she paid no mind to the cold that seeped into her skin as she climbed the hill that led to the shrine. Link wasn't there, and as she trudged into the forest that led to the Great Fairy Fountain, and eventually the Lanaryu Road, she kept her eyes out for the green of his tunic or the blond of his hair - _anything _that would make him apparent to her.

It didn't help that it was getting dark and the rain was making everything one blur of dark green. Even if he was there in the forest, she knew she would struggle to find him. Deep down, she knew that it would be near impossible regardless if Link didn't want to be found.

"Link! Where are you?!"

Nothing but the rain hitting the trees and rock answered her, and the stone in her stomach grew and weighed her down even more. Her feet were sucked into the mud, mucking them up even more than they had been before, and she fought the urge to cry. Her body ached tremendously, rebelling against her, and her knees threatened to buckle at the thought that Link was nowhere to be found.

One hundred years apart and he already left her.

He _left_ her. What if it was because he thought he was finished with his task? Did he leave because he felt no need to remain by her side? What if he was too overwhelmed by her mere presence and the obligation to save her had made him resent her in the present? He didn't know her anymore, he had no reason to stay. She didn't ask him to, but she thought he would because he would want to, or at the very least out of the mere honor in his heart. He had gone to such lengths to free her from the Castle and subsequently get her to Kakariko, carrying her and protecting her, for Hylia's sake! Had he done it because he didn't know any better or because he knew it was expected of him, not because he knew it was his destiny to end the battle?

Did he resent that destiny, as well as her?

The first of her tears fell and she struggled not to be whelmed to her knees and sob. She had to be more than a hopeless girl, lost without the now-stranger boy she loved. She had to be more than the displaced princess, powerless without the only person she truly loved from her own time.

She had to get back inside and lay down before she got sick.

Her bodily urges were starting to become apparent now as she trudged through the mud back to the village, making her dizzy and even more uncomfortable than she had been just moments before. The need to eat, void her bladder, drink some water and _sleep _were starting to become increasingly distracting in her walk back to Impa's home. Despite one hundred years in stasis, ethereal as the avatar to the Goddess, she knew she needed rest and she would need it soon. The shock resulting from the events of the Calamity had made her numb to the aches and pains of running and hiding and being tackled to the ground by her knight, but her body was sure to remind her of them now as if they had been inflicted yesterday.

The slight slope led her past the shrine - blue and bright among the dark and desolate rain - and she looked out towards Hyrule proper from the hillside. There were as many specks of blue as there were orange glowing in the dark, and most of the towers that she could see were still orange.

Link had stopped his quest of finding the shrines and towers and freeing the Divine Beasts in order to come straight to the Castle and free her after remembering his fall. Fighting the respective Blights in the Sanctum before Ganon freed himself had destroyed the entities that had trapped the Champions, but there was no telling if the Divine Beasts were actually free or if she still needed to wrest control of them from whatever had made them turn from the battlefield and hide in the mountains. There was so much more work to be done, and she badly needed Link by her side to do it.

She swallowed another sob and rubbed her face, ignoring the pain of repressing tears behind her eyes as she stumbled past the shrine once more to head back to the village proper.

Yet, as she passed the shrine and started turning towards the hill, a strange buzzing noise filled the air. Zelda immediately looked to the entrance of the shrine, mesmerized at the growing sound and the motes of brightening lights that streamed together at the center platform. They took on the form of a body, bit by bit becoming one solid form, only to slowly become the very knight she had been almost crying over.

He holstered the Sheikah Slate on his belt, made to step off of the platform, then froze when his eyes locked on her. They stared at each other for a long moment, the only sound between them the rain and a distant roll of thunder, and the tension was broken when he blinked and said, "Princess, why are you out in the rain?"

Zelda felt her frustration at him boil in her blood and her former grief was washed away with the rain. She stomped over to him, ignoring the squelching of mud and water between her toes, and reared her arm back. The sound of her palm connecting with his cheek echoed in the entrance of the shrine, breaking the silence, and she chose not to focus on how the pain of the slap vibrated up to her shoulder and started to make her entire arm throb.

She certainly hoped that these aches would go away soon.

"Where have you been?!"

Link had the audacity to look surprised and he averted his gaze shamefully before he grabbed the Sheikah Slate again and swiped his finger across the screen. "Finding you."

Perplexed, she looked at the screen as he presented it to her, seeing the twelve landscape pictures she had left for him when he fell. At first, she didn't understand. What did these have to do with leaving? Why was he showing her the pictures she took herself when she already knew what they had been?

Then, as if answering her apparent confusion, he swiped the screen again and it looked like he had taken exact pictures of the locations he had found, now with six identical photos showcasing the changes the past century had done to those places. Tears pricked at her eyes again and she struggled to fight the trembling of her lower lip as she met his earnestly soft eyes.

He must have thought her wobbling lip was from the cold instead of her inability to stop her crying, because he unclasped his hood and wrapped it over her shoulders, pulling it up so her head was covered. Not like it did any good, considering how soaked she had already been, but now his wet hair was falling into his face as he clasped the hood under her chin. His fingers were cold when they brushed against the bare skin of her shoulders and collar, so different from what she remembered of his touch - even from earlier.

"I was hoping to be back before you left Impa's," he said softly as his hands left her and went back to his side. He still wouldn't meet her eyes. "I came up here to clear my head and as I was looking through the album I noticed I recognized more places than I realized and went to them. I needed to know, Princess."

Zelda struggled to find her voice, so it came out as a rough whisper, "Know what?"

Slowly, Link finally met her eyes again, the blue glowing with the light from the shrine behind him. "Why I _had _to save you. Why I fell in Hateno and not at the Castle facing Ganon. Why my heart feels this way when I don't even really remember you, not like I want to."

Her tears were unstoppable now, falling out of her eyes and blending into the rain as she choked on the sob she had been fighting since she realized he had disappeared. Without a thought, she collapsed into him - exactly how she had done the day Hyrule fell - and he held her close, just as he had done then, too. As she cried, the rain continued to fall. She was surrounded by him, his hood protected her back, while his body protected her front. His arms were tightly wrapped around her, not letting one bit of distance between them, and he tucked his face into her shoulder as she cried into his chest.

The sensation of being held made her body ache in a different way entirely than it had been before. In fact, she _yearned _for this ache, she wanted _more _of it. She wanted Link to hold her until the end of her days, with how it was making her feel.

It her feel whole again, despite actually being whole for the first time since he died.

After a while, a chill crawled down her back and broke her from her reverie. Quietly, she sniffed and pulled her face away from his chest so she could ask, "Do you remember me now?"

His arms tightened even more, but he did not quite answer completely Not until he sighed and buried his face deeper into her shoulder. His breath warmed her chilled skin as he said, "Enough to know why your voice woke me, why I felt like I needed to go save you as soon as your father told me that you were in the Castle, despite not even knowing myself at the time... But it's not enough yet. I'm sorry."

"We can work on the rest," she replied softly. A smile threatened at the corner of her lips, but he didn't see it, not with her face pressed so soundly against his chest above his beating heart. Her fingers clutched at the fabric of his tunic and she nuzzled her face even deeper against him. "You should have said something before you left."

Link hugged her a little more and he murmured in a genuinely apologetic way, "I'm sorry."

"And now I'm all wet and even more muddy than I was before."

He chuckled at that, relaxing and melting into her. "I'm sorry."

She reveled in the warmth he was giving her. "Can I go get a bath now?"

"Yes, Princess."

Zelda sighed and pulled away from him, her thoughts darkening as her eyes went to the destruction of her country behind him. Even with night shrouding the countryside, she knew the truth of this post-Calamity Ganon world. "I'm not a Princess anymore. Just call me Zelda, please."

His brow crinkled with confusion, a silent question in his eyes, but he nodded and lifted her up as he had done when they first arrived in Kakariko. Zelda rested her head on his chest, letting the soothing sound of his heartbeat lull her into a strange and contradictory trance. With his warmth surrounding her, she quickly forgot about the cold and the rain as he carried her back into the village. Despite the peace she felt by acknowledging the end of Ganon and the beginning of her freedom, her mind was troubled with the thoughts of the future of Hyrule and for herself and her knight - two souls in the wrong time.

Link, oblivious to her churning thoughts, brought her all the way to the bathhouse behind the inn and once they were inside, he set her down on one of the benches outside the showers. He gestured at her, bidding her to wait, before he started peeling off his soaked tunic.

The first thing she noticed was the actual physical difference with his body since the last time they had been close like this. He was taller than he had been a century ago - now just a smidgen taller than her, whereas before she had at least an inch over him. Also, his shoulders were a tad bit broader, his muscles more defined from the short time he spent in the wilderness, but the new scars that looked like they had been painted on his skin with an unsteady hand made her heart lodge itself into her throat. They were heavily concentrated on his torso, one even on his left shoulder that reached around to the back of his neck - from when he tackled her to the ground to prevent her from getting hit with a Guardian's laser, getting himself seared in the process. The one on his right side, between his waist and bellybutton, revealed the severity of the last blast that hit him before she begged him to run to safety.

The one that ultimately killed him.

As Zelda gaped at the scars leftover from his battle in the Blatchery Plain, Link seemed oblivious to her staring and started helping her take off her ruined sandals. They were tossed to the side, then Link stood and pulled a different shirt out of his pack. He tugged on the cream-colored undershirt, hiding his scars from view again, and then the familiar blue of his Champion's Tunic was covering him once more, reflecting the similar pools of his blue eyes. Another hood was taken out and pulled on before he helped her unclasp the one he just lent her.

After Link tucked the wet clothes into his pack, he offered his hands to her and said, "I'll go get you some clothes from Impa while you take care of yourself. If you need anything while you're in here, I'll have Paya come help you, okay?"

Despite yearning for his presence after that whole debacle, Zelda nodded and let him leave. Goddess knows she needs privacy to bathe, and to reorient herself to being in a body again, so she was willing to let him be away from her for a short amount of time. As soon as he left, she pulled her soaked dress off and tossed it into the waste bin by the door. Her sandals and undergarments were discarded, as well, and she used the facilities before she stepped into the shower to rinse off the dirt and muck and old blood that had still been on her skin from when she challenged Ganon.

Feeling fresh and clean was a blessed reprieve and she made her way to the baths to soak in the water. Kakariko's bath house was small and tranquil, something she enjoyed every time she came through the village if she had time one hundred years ago. It was unchanged since she last came, save for the scents of the soaps they offered and the color of the towels outside of the bathing area, so it was a comfort - albeit a small one - in this new, strange world.

After she cleaned herself up, she relaxed in the warm water and let it revitalize her already-overused body. But too quickly, the solitude was starting to become too much, especially after being alone for so long, so she pulled herself out of the water, toweled herself off, then made her way to the dressing area. There, already waiting on top of the bench, was her old traveling clothes and boots, and a note.

She hadn't heard anyone enter the bathhouse that entire time...

Carefully, she picked it up and immediately relaxed as she recognized the still-familiar script on the inside:

_"Dinner will be ready when you're done. There's a hood in here, too, so you don't get rained on again."_

She tucked the note into the pocket of her pants before pulling everything on. Impa had saved every last piece of her clothing that she left before they trekked up Mount Lanaryu on the morning of her seventeenth birthday, so she felt incredibly blessed to be back into her most comfortable attire. When her boots were pulled on and a dry hood was covering her head, she stepped out of the bathhouse and made her way back to Impa's home. Dorian helped her up the stairs when she started to tire, and when she stepped inside there was a small array of food spread out on the floor, waiting for her. The familiar smell of Link's cooking made her stomach grumble for the first time in one hundred years.

Impa was gone, likely gone upstairs to rest, and Link was sitting near the left-hand stairs, sifting through the Sheikah Slate as he waited for her.

"This all smells delicious," she remarked as she closed the door behind her.

Link looked up from the Slate and his eyes roved over her, taking in her appearance and grinning softly at the sight of her. "All of this should be easy on your stomach. The first time I ate after waking up, I got sick. This should be light enough to keep down until you've gained your equilibrium."

His thoughtfulness made her stomach do a little flip and she gracefully sat down at his side, eyeing the soup right in front of him. Before she could reach for it, Link handed her a waterskin. Her eyebrow shot up in a silent question, and he gave her a smile.

"Water first, drink it slow."

She took a sip, grinning with her eyes at the satisfied look in his, and then reached for the soup. Silently, she ate for the first time since the day Link died. The food was mild and light, and between bites she was sure to take a sip of water at the insistence in Link's eyes. She chewed slowly, savoring the flavors, and by the time her bowl was all-but licked clean, she moved onto the paella next to her.

As she savored her meal, Link continued to watch her. After a rather uncouth bite, Zelda arched her brows in a silent question at him, and he merely smiled and shook his head slightly, reassuring her? Or dismissing her curiosity, she didn't know. His expression was affectionate, but not as warm and loving as it had been when they had been close before the Calamity.

She swallowed, took a sip of water, then hesitated before she asked, "So... what do you remember? From... before."

Link blinked a few times before looking at the Sheikah Slate and sighing in what could only be considered as disappointment, "Bits and pieces, so far. Some things from the pictures you left, a couple came on their own..."

He trailed off and his brow furrowed, his gaze far away as he handed her the Slate and continued, "I took pictures of the locations so I would remember which ones I had already visited... And it helps with figuring out the locations for the others."

Zelda looked at the pictures leftover, _six_ still that he had not visited based on what he had taken. The fact that six pictures remained for him to recall, plus any of his own memories regarding the late Champions and the time they spent together between each snapshot, made her stomach twist into a knot. She set down her water and turned to him fully.

"I will do what I can to help you remember," she remarked as she took his hands between her own. "In the meantime, we need to travel to the settlements, find the remaining Divine Beasts, and tell the people that Ganon is gone. We can seek out the other locations together and I can fill you in everywhere else that you have questions about. But can I count on you to help me, in return?"

Link looked at their joined hands, then his eyes slowly dragged up her arms until they met her gaze. She tried not to flush, but instead she held his stare until he gave her a slight smile and nodded. Her worried knot in her stomach eased at his soft expression, and she quickly grinned back at him before letting him go.

"But first, you need sleep," he commented as he stood and offered his hands to her. His tone was distant, detached almost, and he averted his eyes from her. She took them and he pulled her to her feet. "Impa is already asleep, so we can say goodbye to her in the morning. Let me clean this up and then I'll show you to our room."

The remaining food was packed up to eat later, and the dishes left over were stowed away into his pack to be washed after he got her to bed. He was quick and efficient, a trait that remained from before his memory-wiping sleep, and Zelda was glad to see that this part of him hadn't changed. It gave her hope that other things would remain the same, or at least return with the memories they would be seeking out together. She would just have to figure that all out as they traveled together once more.

Once he was finished, Link showed her to the door, then took her hand as he led her down the stairs to make their way to the inn. The warmth of his palm seeped through their gloves, and in the chill of the rain still falling from the sky it comforted her more than she could openly admit, at least not right now.

They stepped inside the inn, shaking off the rain, and Link led Zelda to a hidden pair of stairs behind the front desk. Ollie, the innkeeper, was fast asleep but it seemed Link had already gotten a key to the private room on the second floor of the inn.

After going in, Link locked the door behind them and the silence was filled with the quiet sounds of the rain and the crackling fire already in the hearth.

"It seems this room hasn't changed one bit since I was last here," Zelda remarked as she made her way over to one of the overstuffed chairs by the fire. She pulled off her gloves and borrowed hood, and set them down near the fire so they could dry. After she stood, she met Link's gaze and added, "Will you be getting any rest this night, sir knight?"

Link shook his head and removed the Master Sword from his back before he unclasped his hood and laid it next to hers. "I rested last night before I came to the Castle to get you. Get your sleep, I will guard you."

_Has it really only been one day?! _She sputtered and her frown deepened. "But you just battled with evil incarnate not twelve hours ago!"

"And you did it for one hundred years," he countered smoothly, as if the response was rehearsed. That heathen, he knew she was going to say that to him when he tried to get her to go to sleep!

She pouted at his insistence, at his idea that she still needed to be guarded in this village inn, at his distant look in his eyes. Despite her exhaustion and the general ache in her entire body, she was wide - a yawn erupted out of her, causing her jaw to pop in its intensity. Her face flushed at the smug look Link gave her, then she pouted even more before he silently led her to the adjacent room. The bed was already turned down and Link gingerly helped her sit. Silently, he helped her pull off her boots and socks, then pulled out what looked like a hair tie from his pack.

At her questioning look, he shrugged and looked away. "You used to braid your hair before you went to sleep so it didn't get tangled..."

She didn't miss the way his cheeks had a slight pink tinge to them, nor the way her heart swelled with affection at the gesture. It was something small, but it was _something _that he remembered without prompting by a picture or location.

It once again gave Zelda hope that one day he would remember everything they experienced together.

As she took the tie, she asked, "Can you stay near?"

Link hesitated, almost frozen in his movements as he met her eyes again. The sounds of the cracking in the hearth were the only ones in the room as he nodded silently, then went back to the front room to grab the Master Sword. While he was away, she weaved her hair in a messy plait and pulled off her blouse, leaving her in just an undershirt and her trousers, and she climbed under the covers. Link returned and sat at the side of the bed, close enough that she could _smell_ him, and she rolled over onto her side.

Her fingers tugged on the ends of his ponytail and she felt her drowsiness start to take over. "Good night, my Hero."

Link stiffened - only slightly, as if he was surprised by her tired words - then he relaxed against the mattress as he chuckled, a soft and butterfly-inducing sound. As he did, he nudged her limp hand with his shoulder as his words helped her drift off to sleep. "Sleep well, my Princess."

She didn't have the energy to correct him again.

* * *

_tbc._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who knew that y'all still wanted some Zelink? Who's ready for BOTW2?

It turned out that Zelda was much more exhausted than she originally thought. After falling asleep with Link by her side, she slept soundly for over a day and a half. Dreams were sparse, and the ones that lasted more than a minute in the real world were forgotten by the time the next one came around. She woke briefly around lunchtime, but simply drifted back to sleep after hearing Link softly tell her to rest.

After that, she woke when the sun rose to the sight of Link dozing next to her, his sharp profile in full view to her. He seemed to have changed since she slept, out of the Champion's Tunic and into something similar to what the Sheikah wear underneath their casual clothing, but with full sleeves, and his hair was out of its usual tie and hung loosely to his shoulders. Zelda rolled over and patted the top of his head, causing his eyes to fly open and his hand to shoot to the hilt of the Master Sword.

When he turned and met her eyes, however, he relaxed and a sleepy smile graced his lips. "Good morning."

The roughness in his voice gave way to suggestive thoughts in her mind, waking up with him at her side and disheveled hair, bidding her good morning with an affectionate smile. Her foolish feelings from before the demise of Hyrule seemed to bloom in her heart once more.

"Good morning," she managed after a short delay. "Did I miss much?"

Link shook his head and then stood, stretching and popping his back in the process, before he replied, "Not really. A Rito was in town yesterday afternoon so I paid him to send a message to the leaders throughout Hyrule of our success at the Castle. Impa advised me to stock up on supplies and make our way to Goron City, since it's the closet Divine Beast I didn't take on before getting you."

"What of the Zora?" Zelda replied as she rolled onto her back. "They're much closer to Kakariko. Perhaps we should stop there so Dorephan can vouch for my identity, since he's one of the only beings in Hyrule outside of the Sheikah that can verify who I am and silence any naysayers."

Link shook his head and started to re-tie his hair as he spoke, "King Dorephan already sent a reply to my message. Prince Sidon will meet us on the way to Goron City near the Thims Bridge, since it's on our way to Eldin. Just to give us a status update on everything. They're expecting us to go to the Domain last in order to recoup before whatever you have planned for after we re-sync the Divine Beasts with the Sheikah Slate."

"Sidon?" She asked, sitting up slightly so her weight was on her elbows. "He was just a guppy when Mipha was chosen as Ruta's Champion! He must be full grown, now."

Link nodded, but said nothing more. Instead, he moved to pull off the Sheikah shirt he had been wearing to change into the nondescript tunic he had been wearing when he fought Ganon. She admired his body for a moment before she sat up, ever-aware of the way Link averted his eyes and his cheeks turned a little pink when her blankets fell. Her undershirt was thin and comfortable, but still slim-fitting and supportive. More skin was bared in her prayer dress than in her shirt and pants, but she supposed the implications of her being in bed, hair a little messy and face serene after her rest, Link may have gotten the same thoughts she had just a moment before.

He cleared his throat and pulled his shirt on completely before taking a step towards the door, eyes avoiding her completely. "I'll let you get freshened up and then we'll go let Impa know our plans."

After he left the room, Zelda stood and stretched her arms and legs. Almost two days of sleep had made her already tired and aching body stiff, so she amended to bathe once more and loosen up her limbs before they headed out. She shrugged on one of the robes the Sheikah wore, then slipped on a pair of geta left by the front door before she left the room and made her way back to the bathhouse with her other clothes and boots under her arm.

The morning air was crisp and refreshing, perfect for traveling, and the sun peaked over the mountains that protected Kakariko from harm. Link was nowhere in sight within the village - probably inside Impa's - so she quietly entered the bathhouse with her fresh clothes huddled to her chest. The Sheikah were a nocturnal folk, save for the children, but despite their usual habits not many of the people were out and about at this time of morning. She saw one man jogging up the hill, and another practicing what looked like swordplay, but otherwise the only other active Sheikah that early was Cado, the guard.

Zelda slipped into the bathhouse and freshened herself up, washing her hair again and rubbing out the tension in her thighs and shoulders before patting herself dry and making her way back outside. When she stepped into the sunlight, she saw her dutiful knight waiting for her, hand clasped to his mare's bridle and a smile on his face when he met her eyes.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded and strode over to him. "As ready as I'll ever be."

After she bid Impa and Paya goodbye, she returned to Link's side. With a smile, he handed her rice ball for breakfast, and then they were heading out of Kakariko towards the Sahasra Slope.

* * *

The next few weeks passed in a blur. Sidon greeted them heartily at the Thims Bridge, wrapping Zelda in a damp hug that reminded her so heavily of his sister Mipha's hugs that Zelda began to cry. Sidon was a jovial sort, just like Dorephan had been one hundred years ago, and he was accepting and somber in the memory of his late sister. He escorted them all the way to the Maw of Death Mountain, gushing over Link's intervention with Ruta and what had happened in the past one hundred years, then swore that he would see them again once they decided to make a trip to Zora's Domain. He insisted they write to him so he could escort them once more, this time through the winding path that led to the pride of his people. After a joyously tearful good-bye, Sidon leapt into Cephla Lake and disappeared from their sights.

Zelda and Link climbed the mountain together, surprised to see a jarring lack of enemies and frozen Guardians that lost their power. They both settled for an extra strong fireproof elixir once they reached the scorching heights of the mountain, resolving to purchase some of the famed Flamebreaker armor as soon as they could. The taste of stewed lizards and monster guts was never pleasant, especially in overabundance.

By the time they reached Goron City, the sun had nearly set as the armor had been purchased with Link's personal funds and dinner of seared steak and glazed vegetables was enjoyed before they turned in for the night. The following morning, they were greeted by an older Goron with a back problem near the back of the village.

After discussing their identities and their offer regarding Rudania, Link was quickly sent out to fetch Yunobo, a Goron youth that descended from their beloved Daruk, and Zelda was left with Bludo to discuss the issues with Rudania. Apparently, the Divine Beast had plunged itself into the lava-filled depths of Death Mountain after Link and Zelda destroyed Ganon, but the mountain itself was still erupting sporadically. Bludo concluded that though Rudania was no longer the violent magenta it had been before, it was still unstable and out of control and its volatile reactions were causing the mountain to remain active.

Two nights later, Link returned with Yunabo in tow, grinning ear to ear as he handed Zelda the Sheikah Slate, with two more shrines and Rudania's travel gate open, the Divine Beast itself no longer in the depths of Death Mountain but perched on the northern slopes of the mountain overlooking the canyon between Hyrule and their northern neighbors of Labrynna.

"Daruk sends his regards," Link remarked as they settled in for one last night at the inn. His smile was warm and light, and made her stomach do some awful flipping. "He's sorry he couldn't help with Ganon, but he's happy that you both are free. He said he will keep Rudania under control and calm until we can find a new pilot."

To which he glanced at Yunabo, telling Zelda exactly would should be the Goron's next Champion, despite the fact that they most likely would never need new Champions or the Divine Beasts in this lifetime.

Zelda fell asleep that night, content with the progress so far.

The next morning, after Link was gifted Daruk's trusted Boulder Breaker from Bludo with the promise to take very good care of it, they traveled through the Edlin Canyon in search of the location of one of his memories. Zelda knew exactly where it was: southwest of Goron City and due east of the Military Training Camp that once guarded the Great Hyrule Forest. The hike took most of the day, with frequent breaks to ease her still-adjusting body to the physical work of traveling once more. They reached the location mid-afternoon, a few hours after they soaked in the hot springs near Gotram Cliff and ate a light lunch of curried rice and meat.

Watching Link recall his memories was a jarring process; the way he looked around, looked at the Slate as he recognized which picture immortalized the location, and then lost himself in the memory of a time long-past. He came back to the present with a gasp then he took a quick picture that mirrored the one that brought them here. Silently, he returned to her side and gave her a reassuring nod of his head before making his way down the cliffs again.

He didn't meet her eyes, so she was not reassured at all.

Things up to this point had been... amicable, to say the least. Link was friendly and courteous, but there was a distance still there. He still acted like a stranger, a polite one but one nonetheless. There were times that he looked at her as if he was just learning something about her or that she herself was a stranger to him despite all they had been through - which she was, considering the amnesia. She knew he would lose his memories by being put in the Shrine of Resurrection, but she had held onto the hope that he would have regained most of the more important ones before coming to help her.

Zelda chose not to question him on his resurfaced memory, instead she waited until he felt it was time to discuss. Which didn't happen until they were reaching the foothills of Death Mountain again and crossed through the Maw to make their way to the stable overlooking Cephla Lake.

"I still have that scar," he murmured to her as the sun started to set. She turned to him, questions in her eyes, and he merely smiled before rolling up his sleeve and showing her the scar from a gash delivered by an enraged Lynel. "I always wondered why it looked different from the others. It seemed out of place - or rather, _older_ \- compared to the ones I received from the Calamity."

Zelda gave him a soft smile and rested her hand right on top of it. "Do you remember how afterwards, I drilled you about the differences between the colors of Lynels and bokoblins for hours?"

Link's brow furrowed a bit and he pulled away from her, his eyes darting away towards the sky. "I... don't... There's not a lot other than what you left for me to find with your pictures... I don't remember _anything_ about me..."

Gone was the softness he had just spoken with mere seconds before, instead there was an empty sound to his voice. He grew quiet after that, withdrawn, and Zelda couldn't find the words to encourage or at least help him in remembering his old life with her.

No other words were exchanged as they approached the stable and requested two beds for the night.

After fetching a horse for her in the morning, they traveled to the Korok Forest, greeted the Great Deku Tree and an overly enthusiastic Korok who begged to dance for her, and then made their way across the Elma Knolls before stopping at the Serenne Stable for the night. Zelda took in the changed world around her, in awe at how much had changed while still remaining the same Hyrule. Many small settlements were no more, while the population of her people were segregated to small villages on the far reaches of the continent, hiding away from the evil that plagued the center of her land. The stables were quiet and homey, but nothing compared to the towns and settlements that used to freckle the countryside.

Despite his own distance, Link could clearly sense her sadness, plain in the way his eyebrows pitched together with concern as he ate his portion of their dinner of salmon meunière and risotto. After they both finished, he took her plate as she stared out towards the ruins of homes near the edge of the canyon. Although she was lost in her thoughts she could tell he was busy prepping something else in the cooking pot. Probably something they could eat on the road for lunch tomorrow before they arrived in Rito Village sometime in the evening.

However, the smell was familiar - not in the same way Link's cooking triggered a sense of unknown hunger within her, but the smell of castle cooking she had grown up with. Her attention was pulled from the eroded destruction across the plain to the man that had saved her from imprisonment, to the plate in his hand.

"Is that..."

Link smiled, a guilty smile, and she wondered if he had done this to not only cheer her up but to apologize for his behavior for the past two days. As she took the plate, he nodded and said, "I happened to pass by a book in the castle library that said it was your favorite... So I thought..."

Tears blurred the visage of the spongy cake topped with fluffy cream and fruit, but she didn't care. It was possibly the most thoughtful thing _anyone _had done for her in her entire life, and to her it came completely out of nowhere. A smile pulled at the corners of her lips and she met his eyes, the first of her tears starting to fall, and she replied, "Thank you, Link."

A silent smile was all she got in return before he dug into his own piece, serenity washing over her entirely.

The next morning, they walked up the hills that overlooked the castle, and soon Link was recalling another memory of their time spent together. His gasp was quieter this time, but his distance just as large as it had been after the last time he recalled one of their moments together from the past. They took the horses, put on some warmer clothes, and made their was through Hebra - as Link said it would be quicker than cutting through Hyrule Ridge and the Tabantha Frontier.

His distance was not cold this time - at least, not as cold as the air around them - but he kept quiet through the tundra and as they passed through the once-thriving Tabantha Village. It wasn't until the air had gotten warmer and the snow turned into rain as they passed through the rocky canyons that lead to the Rito Village.

They stopped at the stable to board their horses, where Link turned to her and met her gaze. There was still the distance, but not as much irritation or confusion as she had seen before. Perhaps the additional memories he had been gaining in their journey were helping fill the gaps that he so desperately hated.

"I find Silent Princesses all over the country, now."

Zelda blinked - jarred by his sudden proximity and the randomness of his statement - and replied, "What?"

Link led her to the rope bridges that connected the Rito to the rest of Hyrule and said, "Silent Princesses. I know they were your favorite. They grow all over the countryside now, in a lot of different places. I will need to show you when we have time."

She nodded, although still a little jarred at his frankness. "I saw some at the Great Fairy's Fountain near Kakariko. But they had always grown there before, since the Great Fairies are said to have a connection to the Old Gods, and the Silent Princess was also said to be only able to grow in the wild where the Goddess Hylia once walked."

Link sent her a wry look, then murmured softly as he looked away, "If that's the case, then the Silent Princess should grow everywhere you have been."

She couldn't stop her blush and sputter at his statement, instead she strode forward ahead of him to walk up the steps that brought them onto the wooden platforms built into the mountain. From there, they climbed to the top of the village, where the village elder, Kaneli, roosted. Just as they had done with the Gorons, Zelda and Link divulged their identities, confirmed by the Master Sword and Sheikah Slate in their possession, and he quickly ordered them to find Teba, one of the warriors that knew where Medoh had gone to hide.

As Link left to find the Rito, Zelda remained and questioned Kaneli over the state of Hyrule. He divulged to her the brokenness of the people, how cut off they were from one another, and how his people had decided to remain in their own village and rarely venture out anymore in fear of the monsters and darkness that plagued the countryside. He spoke of Medoh appearing in the sky, screeching in what felt like pain to the Rito, and then retreated to the Hebra Mountains the same time the darkness surrounding the Castle disappeared.

The morning of her third day in Rito Village, Link and Teba returned from the Hebra Mountains and there was one more Divine Beast settled in peace.

Link escorted Zelda out of the village soon after he was given Revali's Great Eagle Bow and smirked as he handed her the Sheikah Slate so he could adjust to the draw of the bow. "I couldn't for the life of me figure out why Revali hated me so, but it seems that grudge faded with the century he spent in isolation. He bids you hello and is content with resting peacefully until Medoh is needed again."

Zelda smiled and looked at Medoh's location on the map: nestled under the snow on a mountain that looked strikingly like a bird itself, almost as if the Divine Beast belonged on top of the snowshelf made in its likeness.

"Revali only resented your luck and skill," Zelda remarked. "In fact, he and I would often jibe over your divine convenience whenever something occurred and you _so happened _to be there. It wasn't until you saved my life that I started seeing your intervention the most blessed of conveniences."

Link had stopped walking in that moment, a puzzled look crossing his face. "When did I save your life while Revali was still alive?"

Zelda thought back to the memories Link had already obtained, and the ones he had yet to find based on the pictures he took with the Slate. He had mostly seen everything that she wanted him to remember - the most important ones that shaped their relationship as friends and partners - and realized that he only had the ones near the Castle, the incident with him disobeying her orders, and of him saving her at the Kara Kara Bazaar left to recall, and whatever he remembered of Urbosa once they returned to Gerudo Town.

With a knowing smile, she took his hand and replied, "I think you'll find out soon enough."

She didn't let him object before she made her way down the bridge and back to the stable. He kept pressing her for answers, but she playfully refused to tell. Not even when he bribed her with more fruit cake, or archery lessons. They rode out after eating a quick lunch and he stopped questioning her, if only momentarily as they navigated the rocky terrain. Stopping in the Ancient Columns for the memory she left for him there had not deterred him, but in fact made him more persistent on finding out what had happened. Her promise to answer his questions regarding his memories was broken, but not out of malicious intent but out of spite for his impatience.

Not even when they stopped for the night at the stable near the Great Plateau and he cornered her a little too closely behind where the horses were eating their dinners. Her blush must have glowed in the moonlight because he was soon blushing himself when he realized the lack of space between them and backed off, in more ways than one.

Link actually slept that night, with his face pointed to her.

By the time the sun rose, the two travelers had already embarked towards the desert on their horses. They passed through the Gerudo Canyon, where Zelda could tell which catwalks were new and which ones were around when Vah Naboris had been excavated, and even before. They reached the entrance to the desert a little after lunch time, where they enjoyed their pre-cooked meal of meat pies in the shade of the mountains. Their horses were left to the stable and Zelda and Link made their way into the sand.

Zelda was wise enough to remember chilly elixirs - something she reminded Link he would need - and he merely nodded before chugging one and tossing the bottle back to her with a grin. They walked the path, careful to stay away from the changing dunes, and were soon stepping into the oasis that was more famously known as the Kara Kara Bazaar.

Link paused, and Zelda knew immediately he was trying to remember. His hand flew to the Slate, pulled up the picture, and soon he was lost in his old life, gazing at a world she could not see.

She remembered the day oh so clearly: the Yiga, the blood, Link's bravery and diligence despite her snotty attitude to him up until that point. She remembered the way his hand held hers as he helped her stand, then brought her to the inn to recover from what she had vaguely recalled as being shock.

How he stayed up that night, watching over her fitful sleep and ensuring her safety until he could escort her back to Gerudo Town to be under the guard of Urbosa.

How he accepted her apology with nothing more than a smile and dismissive wave before letting her lead him back to the Castle and a life of isolation and containment.

Link came back to her not a moment later, a look of awe and wonder on his face as he turned to her and really _looked _in her eyes. Her heart did a strange little blip at the connection he was making in his gaze, the way he puzzled together all the other memories that he had already seen with the catalytic one he just recalled.

Something changed then and there, something strange. After they moved through the Bazaar and started making their way to Gerudo Town, Link's whole demeanor subtly changed. It was almost as if... Zelda couldn't hope too much, but she was starting to notice he was becoming more and more like the man she fell in love with before the Calamity struck. The one that shared his innermost doubts and anxieties, the one that joked with her about setting dignitaries on fire and running away to live in Faron where no one would find them.

The one that held her when she cried over the deaths of their friends and family as the world burned around them.

Zelda's breath caught at the way his smirk pulled up playfully on his lips, and how he grabbed her hand and led her through the sand. However, that playfulness did not last long when they reached the gates. Link was unceremoniously declined entry by the guards, to which Zelda cursed that circumstance - and the fact that she actually _forgot_. Asking to see the chief was denied, as was asking if the chief could meet them here at the gates.

Instead, Link told Zelda to go inside and he'd figure out another way in.

Once she was in Gerudo Town, she saw Link turn back around and go to the Shrine right outside the city walls. Not too long after, she saw him sprinting through the sands back towards the Bazaar. Almost a whole hour passed before Link even showed up in the dunes, but she was starting to get too tired to wait for him any longer, so Zelda went to the inn and got a bed.

She was woken at dawn by a shaking of her shoulders, then was greeted by familiar, mirth-filled blue eyes that were framed with a headdress and veil.

"Is this a joke?" she croaked, her mind too hazed with sleep to connect any sort of dots.

"Gerudo Town is a female-only settlement," remarked the scantily-clad Hylian. With what Zelda could only surmise was a smirk in his voice, he added, "As of now I am in fact a _vai _and you will need to get matching clothes so we don't stand out."

"A-a-alright," she sputtered as he helped her out of the bed and out into the market. They purchased her an outfit similar to Link's but green and purple instead of blue, and they soon were making their way to the Chief's chambers to speak with the leader of the Gerudo.

But both were shocked to see it was not a woman of Urbosa's stature on the throne, but a girl smaller than them both.

Riju was a beautiful youth, much too young to be the leader of her people but wise in a way that came with leadership. A way Zelda wished she could obtain. Riju and the Gerudo were a proud people, denying any outside help unless something was done to earn their trust. Buliara, Riju's personal guard, suggested that Link and Zelda reclaim the Thunder Helm from the Yiga, which Riju decided would be a fair idea, as well. Link told Zelda to stay with Riju while he went out and stole back the Helm, and soon he was making his way to the barracks to gather more information to hunt down the traitor Sheikah.

Zelda and Riju became quickly acquainted, learning of the hardships they both endured and the challenges of young rulers until night fell and Zelda found herself in a private suite at the inn and quickly falling asleep after getting one of their famous massages. At breakfast the following morning, Riju questioned Zelda's intentions of returning to the throne of the Hylians, to which Zelda could not answer. Seeing the people of Hyrule survive one hundred years without a monarch was a wonderful surprise, but at the same time she did not want to see her people fall to ruin now that Ganon was gone and their was no order in the land.

"I will do what is best for the people," Zelda remarked evenly. "Even if I do not know what it is quite yet. I suppose I need time to consult with the Goddess as well as the leaders of Hyrule and figure out the best course of action."

Riju seemed somewhat pleased with the answer, but she couldn't pry much more out of Zelda before one of her guards came rushing into the throne room saying they saw Link riding a sand seal back from Karusa Valley with the Thunder Helm in tow.

Together, Riju and Zelda waited for him on the stairs that led to the Chief's chambers, a place Zelda had been often when she would visit Urbosa as a child with her mother. Link came bounding up the stairs, eyes crinkled in a way that told Zelda he was grinning, and handed Riju the helm.

It was in that moment that Link was suddenly a century away, his breath catching as he was remembering something again, and Riju cast her a confused look.

"Give him a minute," Zelda murmured with soft affection. When Link shook himself out of his memory, he apologized softly to the Chief and asked her what she knew of Vah Naboris.

"Naboris migrated to the Southern Desert suddenly, a few weeks ago," Riju supplied, looking off towards the sands that she spoke of. "We sent scouts and they all came back saying Naboris was stirring up the sands about a click southwest of the Arbiter's ruins, behind one of the larger dunes. If you want to seek her out, I would say we go as soon as possible. By the time evening falls, we should be able to find her."

They agreed to set out as soon as Link got something to eat, and Riju would be joining him on her own personal sand seal, with Buliara and Teake as guards. As the last living female from the Royal Family, Zelda was tasked with staying in Gerudo Town in Riju's stead, a common practice from a time long lost. Zelda's mother had done it for Urbosa a time or two when the latter had to leave for official business outside of her city walls, but that had never stayed in place while the threat of Ganon loomed over their shoulders and Zelda was still underage.

Now, just as her mother had done, Zelda held Riju's throne until the Gerudo would return to her people.

It took two days for Riju to return with Buliara and Teake, but Link was not with them. When Zelda asked, Riju claimed Link had gone by himself inside the Divine Beast, claiming the possibility of being unsafe for them, and that he would return once he activated everything inside that would be needed to control Naboris once more. Riju told Zelda of Link's finesse in their "battle" with the beast - a precaution in order to get her on the ground so Link could board safely - and his gratitude for her help.

The twinkle in Riju's eyes when she teased Zelda over her enraptured look made the Hylian's cheeks burn hot with what was undoubtedly a deep red.

Link returned on the fourth night, apparently reappearing at the Shrine outside Gerudo Town's walls and dragging his feet through the gates to make his way back to Riju's throne room. He handed Zelda the Sheikah Slate, then promptly left to clean himself off and likely go get some rest.

The next morning, Naboris was spotted resting in the sands not too far from the great skeleton to the south, no longer stomping up a sandstorm. In gratitude to Link's hard work, Riju gifted him Urbosa's Sword of the Seven and her trusted shield, Daybreaker. Although he put the weapons in his pack, he promised to give them to Zelda once she learned how to wield them.

They left Gerudo Town a week after arriving, and made their way through the desert to fetch their horses. Link told her of Urbosa's fond laugh as the main control unit was finally reactivated, and of her happiness that Zelda had been alright. Her regret over not helping with Ganon had kept her in this world, waiting to be put at peace, but knowing Link had gone to her aid and destroyed Ganon once and for all had helped ease her heart.

"I should have gone with you," Zelda remarked with a bit of her own regret after they got their horses from the stable and ate a light meal of fish skewers and rice. "I should have been there to ease the spirits and regrets of all the Champions."

Link placed his hand on hers and held it gently. "We didn't know what dangers potentially lingered in each Divine Beast. If you still feel the need to ease their hearts, take the Sheikah Slate and go to them. I can wait for you in Zora's Domain, if you'd like."

Zelda looked up to the sky, barely visible in their spot nestled in the canyon, and she mulled it over. It wasn't paramount that she helped their spirits move on, but it would be great to see her friends one last time, especially since the last time she heard their voices was the death reeds they sang in her head when they were slain during the Calamity.

But she had all the time in the world, and perhaps it could be done when the new Champions were chosen to safeguard Hyrule from danger.

With a sad smile, she shook her head and looked back to her Champion, her Hero, and replied, "There's plenty of time. You said yourself that they were content with waiting until new Champions were chosen. I can take those who are chosen and ease the spirits of their predecessors once it's all official. Besides, we need to get to Zora's Domain and figure out what to do next."

If Link noticed the weary undertones to her words, he didn't mention anything. In fact, he didn't say a word until they were passing Lake Hylia near mid-afternoon when he said they should make a detour south to Faron. When she asked why, he said that probably no one in that area knew of Ganon's defeat, because the Castle wasn't visible to most of those parts of the kingdom. And without any Divine Beasts or major settlements to pass through, word probably didn't spread to that region.

Although he was right, Zelda said they could make their way down to Lurelin and the stables after they met with Dorephan and did a trip back to the Castle.

The people of Hyrule could wait for a little while longer. Especially since there was nothing left for her to do once they visited the Zora. There was no kingdom left for her to rule, not that it was something she actively _wanted, _but it was all she knew to do after Ganon was defeated: rule Hyrule as she had been taught in the spare moments between her training and devotions. Now there was no prospect of her having any sort of future she had planned, not when everything around her had been destroyed.

Link's look of confused disappointment at her declaration was the only thing on her mind long after they stopped for the night at the stable south of the Bottomless Swamp. Though he didn't say anything - still - Zelda knew Link did not sleep that night. Instead, he sat outside at the fire until long after the moon had reached its apex in the sky. Zelda wasn't entirely sure, because he was still out there when she finally stopped fighting disturbed sleep.

The next morning, Sidon greeted them with such enthusiasm that it momentarily broke Zelda out of her desolate thoughts. Link grinned, if only slightly, and they made their way up the riverside towards the Lanaryu Wetlands. Sidon kept to his word and escorted them all the way through the Zora Highlands, swimming when he could and walking when they got higher through the mountains. Vah Ruta stood proudly on top of mountains, her glow dimmed but her gears still turning.

They arrived at Zora's Domain when the sun was starting to hide behind the mountains surrounding the settlement, and Zelda was relieved to find one part of Hyrule had been unchanged in her century-long absence. Even some of the people remained, friendly faces only changed by time came to greet her. They reached Dorephan with a crowd behind them, so Sidon's announcement to his father was practically unneeded.

"Dearest Princess," Dorephan boomed, his grin wide and his eyes sparkling like the stones surrounding his home. "It is so good to see you are alive and well. The Goddess Hylia has blessed us with your return!"

Her smile was tight, but she returned it genuinely as she replied, "King Dorephan, it is a relief to see such a familiar face after one hundred years in isolation. The Zora are thriving, and it warms my heart to see a part of Hyrule that has been unchanged."

"The Zora welcome you with full hearts," Dorephan stated before turning to address his people. "Let us feast in celebration of the end of the darkness and the return of the Golden Princess, and her Chosen Hero."

Once they had eaten and the Zoras started heading back to their dwelling areas to sleep soundly, Zelda and Link remained in Dorephan's throne room to catch up. Sidon once again enthusiastically regaled Link's triumph over Ruta, then a more somber tone filled the hall when they recounted their dearly lost Mipha.

"She would not want us to be sad," Dorephan proclaimed as he smiled to Zelda. "We rejoice that she will be able to rest, and that Hyrule will be able to be reborn after this Calamity."

Zelda nodded, but a knot of worry settled in her chest. Her every thought concerning the future of this kingdom had kept her on edge for weeks, wondering and worrying about the future and her uncertain place within it. The man at her side did not help at all in the matters - although the distance between them had shrunk in their travels, there was still something tangible in the tension still there. He was not the same knight she had fallen in love with as a Princess, and she was not sure she was in love with the wild man next to her now. Whatever that may be, she wasn't sure Link would want any part of her life now that their journey was complete and they were free to break apart to start new chapters of their new lives.

"If you do not mind me asking, Princess," Dorephan spoke up, breaking into her thoughts. Zelda shook herself out of the dreary path she had gone down and met his eyes, steady and unwavering under his curious stare as he continued, "But do you plan on retaking your place as the regent of Hyrule? You are the only heir, and now that the Castle is no longer a hive of monsters, Hyrule can begin flourishing again."

Zelda broke her gaze away and looked to her empty goblet. One hundred years without a ruler, and the people of Hyrule still carried on. There was no real reason for her to become Queen, except maybe to prevent outside countries from trying to invade or otherwise destabilize the wildness that had claimed the land. Informally, she could still lead the people, but not with the pomp and circumstance that her forebears had done in the past.

The only issue was the line of Hylia.

Inevitably, Ganon would return. She would need progeny that carried the Blood of the Goddess in order to prevent him from raging chaos across the land like he had done a century ago. Being the Queen didn't necessarily have to be a prerequisite to bearing a child with Hylia's touch.

She cleared her throat and met Dorephan's eyes again. "I don't see a need to officially become Queen, yet. Hyrule has endured for a century without a monarch, so there is no pressing need for me to take up the throne immediately. However, there is the matter of me continuing Hylia's line... There's no way for me to know if my century-long commune with the Goddess and with Ganon rendered my body sterile, so it is of a pressing matter that I find out... In order to combat the inevitable return of Ganon, I will need children to pass down the Blood of the Goddess..."

Zelda peeked over at Link, who seemed to notice her stare as he averted his eyes and his cheeks turned a little pink.

"It is a more pressing matter, but not one I plan to pursue just yet," she continued. "However, it is pertinent that it is considered when we look to Hyrule's future, with or without me as a reigning Queen. I could live in the country for the rest of life, for all I care, just as long as Hylia's line lives on."

Dorephan seemed to understand her reasoning, and he nodded before replying, "An astute observation, Princess. You have every right top pursue peace and quiet after all you have done for Hyrule. However, you have to understand that if the people are in need, it is up to you to step up and take the responsibility."

She nodded in affirmation. "When the people need a Queen, I will be ready. But first, I think I might need a vacation."

The Zora King's booming laugh filled the hall. "Of course! Why don't you both head down to the Royal Suite. Take rest, then set out to the rest of your journeys on the morrow. We can leave the rest of this political talk for after you have both had a little break."

Link stood quickly and started leading Zelda down to the suite. His silence was concerning, as was the tension in his shoulders, but she did not dare ask him what was on his mind until they were in the privacy of the suite. Once the door was shut behind them, Zelda pressed her back to it and waited. Link was casing the room, checking under the bed, in the closets, pressing the cushions, looking out the window, the whole lot. A whole five minutes later - at least two trips around the room - did he finally look at her.

There was something in his eyes that made her stomach flutter with unease. It was unreadable, but still clear that he was demanding an answer or two.

"I will need to set out for Hateno in the morning," she stated before making her way to the couch closest to the door. "I need to speak with Purah and hopefully get some answers."

He did not say anything, although she expected him to. After all, she had not said any word of her plans for after freeing the Divine Beasts. He had no idea that she wasn't sure she needed to be Queen anymore, or that she was more worried about having a _baby _than wearing a crown again.

After their time together, she at least thought he would wonder why she never said anything.

"Considering everything, you are free to go where you want or do what you want," Zelda continued. She decided to busy herself with taking off her boots and socks, then pulling her hair into a plait so she could go to sleep. Anything to stop from looking at Link. "Afterwards, I will return to Kakariko and consult with Impa, depending on what answers Purah gives me. But all in all, I do need a little time to recuperate and figure out what to do next, now that we have defeated Ganon and freed the Divine Beasts."

She hadn't noticed he had moved until he was kneeling in front of her. That unreadable look was still in his eyes, but his brows were pinched together as if he was confused. "You mean for me to leave?"

Zelda blinked. She hadn't thought of it like _that, _but she didn't expect him to remain by her side like he had done in the past. He was no longer bound by his vows as her appointed knight, now that their duty was fulfilled.

"I -"

"Because I was under the impression my oath was until my death or yours," Link cut in, his voice soft but still rough. His eyes still did not betray his emotions. "And although I technically died then, I am still sworn to you, no matter what."

She looked at him long and hard, wondering what was going through his mind at that moment. Up until this moment, _he _never gave any indication that he intended on staying by her side through whatever she planned on doing next. She thought so much of her own duty and the emptiness of her future now that the kingdom was in ruins and her destiny fulfilled, but did not spare a thought of what Link may want to do now that they were done with their tentative agreement.

Link took her hands and clasped them between his. She realized then he was _shaking, _either out of fear or nervousness, she didn't know. She watched as he licked his lips and inhaled haggardly.

"I would never leave your side, even if you asked," he declared, causing a serrated breath to cut through her and loosen the knot of worry that had made its home in her chest. "I defied you in the past, and I will do it now, if you intend for me to leave your side. I remain devoted to you, in every way possible."

An unbidden tear fell from her eye - one she was unaware she was about to shed - and she blinked more tears away. "You mean to remain with me?"

He nodded and tightened his grip on her hands. "I told you before, I _knew _your voice the moment I woke up in the Shrine. I _knew _I had to save you, the Divine Beasts, be damned, because you were - _are - _important to me. I may not have remembered you the way that you wanted when Ganon was defeated, but I have always had a place for you in my heart. The Link before... His life is different than my life now. I remember his life, like I would something I read out of a book, but I know his devotion to you was carried over into this new life of mine now."

Link took one of his hands and wiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb. "Why are you crying? I thought you would be happy that I want to stay with you."

She smiled - a watery one, at that - and shook her head. "I do not deserve your devotion, Link. I never have. I am just surprised you still remain so, despite everything."

He shook his head then and cupped her face with his one hand. "There's nowhere I'd rather be."

When she looked into his eyes now, that unreadable look morphed into something else entirely - his devotion, his _love - _and she couldn't stop herself from closing the distance between them and pressing her lips against his. The shock of kissing her literally made his whole body stiffen, then he slowly moved closer to her and held her close as they melted into the kiss. He was still shaking - enough that his breath was uneven as it left him and stuttered against her lips.

After a long moment, Link broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against hers. He let out something close to a laugh, and Zelda couldn't stop her twin smile.

"Was that alright?"

"Are you kidding?"

She giggled again and pulled away. Link's eyes were shining as he looked at her, and Zelda believed hers were just as shining and full of love as she looked back. She stood, pulling him with her, and made her way over to the bed, invigorated by the kiss but still too tired to stay awake, and she let him tuck her in. Silently, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and made his way to the foot of the bed.

"Good night, my Hero," she whispered with a soft smile.

He met her eyes and winked, then replied, "Good night, _my _Hero."

* * *

_tbc._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooooooo... I'm sorry for the delay. I have a life lol
> 
> This is the end of At Last and I hope you all enjoyed this enough to tide you over until Breath of the Wild 2 comes out.

Purah reassured her of two things: her body was preserved in every way conceivable by the Goddess during her century-long stasis, and that was not the only thing _conceivable _in the future. Hearing someone with the appearance of a child say something so suggestive made Zelda's skin crawl, but she ignored it in favor of the curious look in Link's eyes as he walked back into the lab from town that very moment.

Apparently he had some business there and wanted to take care of it while she and Purah had their... discussion. And he arrived back just in time.

Quickly, Zelda bid Purah farewell and hastened out of the lab with Link in tow, ready to move past the awkwardness of having to discuss her bodily functions with a child. She turned to him with a forced grin and asked, "So what did you need to do back in town that couldn't wait?"

Either ignoring her tense smile or not noticing it - she voted on the former based on the way his eyes darted to the lab and back to her - he gave her a sly grin and simply replied, "You'll see."

They made their way down the mountain and back into Hateno Village - a sprawling town full of young lives, the tangible reality of Link's sacrifice a century prior - and he led her to the general store.

"Get what food you want, and then we can run to the textile store to get you some spare clothes," he ordered softly as he ushered her inside. She followed his command with many questions, but he still ignored them in favor of buying some more supplies and basically picking the store clean of any products. They then moved across the road to the clothing store, where she bought a set of basic clothing and a simple shift and shorts the attendant named Sophie sewed together to work as better pajamas than Zelda's undershirt and trousers. Then, with their arms full of bags of supplies, Link led her up the hill, past three strange-looking square houses, then over a bridge towards a more run-down looking home nestled into the side of Ebon Mountain. In the back was an apple tree heavy with fruit and what seemed like a laundry pond, and two larger oak trees towered over the rest of the area, giving the space plenty of shade. There was a cooking pot out front under one tree, the fire still lit, but the house was otherwise seemingly unoccupied.

With a smile, Link turned to her and said, "Welcome home."

Zelda couldn't stop the way her jaw dropped. "This... _this _is what you were doing while we were gone? You bought a _house_?!"

Link grinned and opened the front door, revealing a small kitchenette to her left and a loft to her right. On the wall were already some of his weapons that typically stayed in his pack, like the weapons of the Champions and a few other rare finds. The table in the center of the home was set for two and there were chests under the stairs that told Zelda that he had been busy filling them with his supplies and rations.

A _home._

"When I first woke up and came to talk to Purah, I had noticed a construction crew over here," Link remarked as he started putting away their recently bought supplies. "Bolson, the owner of the construction company, told me that they were planning on knocking it down because no one would buy it and it had been empty since the Calamity. I had somehow amassed just enough money to pay him to stop, and it's been sitting here, empty, ever since. And since we have been traveling the lengths of Hyrule, I collected enough to pay him to build furniture and fixtures around the house so it's not just an empty shell with a bed."

Zelda turned to him, panic nearly constricting her throat. "You mean to live here?"

Link set down the Master Sword against the stairs and shrugged. "Maybe. At least for now, we will. Or it can be a place to stay whenever our travels have made us weary. Or it can be a vacation home when life elsewhere becomes too much. Either way, it's ours."

A smile worked its way onto her lips, her unease almost slipping away with her breath, and Zelda moved to hug him. As she rested her chin on his shoulder, she said, "I love it."

Link relaxed into her hug and held her a little tighter, then patted her shoulder. "Alright: dinner. What do you want?"

Zelda pulled away and replied, "Surprise me."

Though her joy at Link's surprise warmed her heart, there was still a lingering ache that had made its home in her chest. Ever since they left Zora's Domain, Link had been courteous and chaste with his affections; a hug or peck every once in a while, a secretive smile cast her way, a kiss to her knuckles after helping her climb up onto her horse. The entire trip from to Kakariko passed like this. With that short pit stop on their way to Hateno, they gave Impa an update on their plans, then made their way out of the Sheikah village without much fanfare, still innocent and simple with a squeeze of the hand or shared smile.

Though, as they moved south to the wetlands east of the Dueling Peaks, Zelda finally saw the eroded devastation from Link's last stand. Guardian shells sprawled all over the field, broken walls that had once been homes and a full functioning stable, now replaced by the tented version she had seen littered across the length of Hyrule. They turned east after crossing the Kakariko Bridge, and Link seemed to pointedly avoid the wreckage of Fort Hateno, snapping the reins of his horse to spur her faster. She did as well, choosing not to dwell on his tense silence. It wasn't until they reached Hateno in the heights of Necluda, that Zelda saw the impact of his sacrifice a century ago. And now, in this place they would now call home for the time being, she knew it was all meant to be.

Except she still was unsure of where her path would head now that they had essentially finished their final task.

As she climbed the stairs to the loft, hands grazing the wooden railings, she yet again found herself at a loss. There was one bed - the size of the one she had in her room in the Castle - and she didn't know what to do with that information. Did he intend on them sleeping together in the same bed? Did he not plan to sleep anymore while she was here? Or was he planning on sleeping on the floor -

"There's a cot under the loft that I plan to sleep on," Link said from behind her, immediately catching onto her hesitation. "When Bolson was making the furniture, I had him build it, since I knew we would both be living here for some time. I also asked if he could install an inside door to the storage room under the stairs, but he's going to have to come back to do that at another time. It's typically accessible from outside, but with winter coming I didn't want to have to go outside every time I needed to get something from the storage space or go take a bath. Eventually, I can make it into an entire room for you, if you'd like. For now, the cot will do."

Zelda turned to him and arched a brow. "You think I will make you sleep on a simple cot in your own home? You can take the bed, I'll sleep on the cot."

He frowned and stepped up one more stair. "I told you this is _our _home. Besides, I can't have the Princess of Hyrule sleep on a cot when there's a perfectly acceptable bed in this house."

His words cut through her and made that ache in her chest throb. With a bitter smile, Zelda curled in on herself and replied, "That doesn't matter. I'm not the Princess anymore."

It was Link's turn to arch a brow at her, and he took the last step so he was on the landing. "Is that so? I don't recall you formally renouncing your title. You told King Dorephan you would become Queen if Hyrule needed you. As I see it, Hyrule will always need you. And you will always be the Golden Princess with the blood of the Goddess in your veins, regardless of your position. And needed or not, you are and always will be _my _Princess."

_That really wasn't the best thing to say_, she thought to herself. Her smile remained bitter when she countered, "Hyrule has gone without a ruler for one hundred years. Using my former title as a way to get whatever I want is foolish. There will be people out there who do not recognize it, or choose not to."

Link seemed truly confused now. "Where is this coming from? I understand your hesitance, and maybe after we get some rest you and I can talk about it. But if you really don't want the bed I won't stop you. I think there's another sleeping pad somewhere around here."

A laugh bubbled out of her - uncontrolled - and Link's eyes widened in surprise. Zelda giggled until his face morphed with concern and she had tears springing from her eyes. Once she settled down a moment later, she wiped at the corner of her eyes and smiled at his naivety. "You think this is only about your bed?"

"As far as I knew, yes, because it's where we started." Link's cheeks turned a little pink and he folded his arms across his chest. "Otherwise no, I think this is about you avoiding giving a straight answer. This is just as much your house as mine, and I want to sleep closer to the door for the time being. Even if you weren't here, I probably would still sleep down here or out by the fire."

Zelda's smile had faded as he spoke, turning slowly into a frown.

Link continued on, "And with the whole Princess thing, that is entirely up to you. I am not going to make you change your mind on how important you are to the people of Hyrule. However, that truly doesn't matter to me what you decide because I will always be here to support your decision."

His words made her heart give a strange leap.

"Plus I know how long it's been since you slept in a good bed so I am offering it to you, title or not."

Without giving her a chance to argue, Link spun on his heels and marched down the stairs. He was out the door faster than she could blink and she sighed at her blunder. It was hard to talk to him sometimes, not because of _him _but rather _her _and her increasing feelings of displacement in this new world. She had no idea how to function now with her destiny fulfilled and her kingdom in ruins.

She had no idea how to truly communicate her frustrations with the one person who she trusted the most, only because he was no longer that person yet still was at the same time. Her entire existence in this world was confusing and irritating and she kept taking it out on him.

She huffed and practically ripped her clothes off in order to change into her new sleeping clothes. The sun was barely setting and Link was likely cooking up their dinner, but she didn't have the stomach for food. Nor any more of Link's tense company.

By the time he came back inside with stew and biscuits, she was already fast asleep on the bed in the loft.

* * *

Desert winds blew past her from the west, ruffling her skirts and hair as she stared on towards the ruins of the Castle in the distance. The sky was blood, weeping and dark despite the brightness of the moon. Murmurs were coming from all around her, the voices faint but only somewhat recognizable before the wind picked up again and carried them away.

A deeper voice, male yet unfamiliar, spoke in her ear, right behind her despite no bodily presence being felt. In his deep, clear voice, he spoke in the sibilant dialect of the Gerudo, _"You will never win, girl. I will always return."_

Eyes bright with malice flashed in front of her, sunken into leather-like skin, and her scream was silenced by a pool of inky fluid that swallowed her whole.

_"When will you stop treating this as some sort of childish game?"_

That voice she knew. She missed. She regretted never hearing again.

She regretted disappointing.

The darkness enveloped her, swallowing her entirely until she sank deep beneath the depths of the black.

She still couldn't breathe.

_"You are the heir to a throne of nothing."_

Her mouth opened to cry out for the voice to stop, but nothing came out. The fluid filled her lungs, but she did not drown.

_"Stop running away from your duty."_

Her feet touched something solid and the inky fluid drained away from her, leaving the darkness behind as it clung to her like some sort of second skin. She clawed at it, not feeling the pain of her nails digging into her skin to rip the inky crust off. Her blood mixed with the darkness, becoming one with it, and her tears dropped on top as another part of her new skin.

It was the color of Malice. The color of Ganon.

_"You're too late," _the Gerudo voice said now, drowning out the echoing tones of her dead father. _"You won't be able to stop me again."_

Her sobs were heavier now, echoing in the emptiness, until her nails pulled away the darkness to reveal her bloody skin underneath. Even as she peeled it away, the voices of her past started to get louder and louder, filling her mind with nothing but their insults and biting words until she was completely bare and alone with one last statement echoing in her mind.

_"Nothing but failure."_

* * *

Zelda woke with a start before the sun was up, only to find herself alone. Link was not in his cot at the foot of the stairs, and his typical weapons were gone. Likely, he was out on a hunt in the woods to the south for some more meat since they ran out right before they arrived in Hateno. Zelda sat up and stretched her arms, trying to shake away the remnants of her nightmare. Unfortunately - just like her visions of Hylia the days before the Calamity - the sights she conjured in her sleep would not disappear.

Nor would the voices.

She stood abruptly and decided she needed a bath. She left through the front door and ignored the bite of the brisk morning air before slipping into the small bath house on the side of the building. It was a modest little wash room - with a deep tub and a table under the window. There was a mirror on the opposite wall of the door, plus a drain in the middle of the floor that led to the ground underneath.

After the door was shut behind her, Zelda got to work. The water had to be pumped - the repetitive action good for waking her tired body - and soon the tub was full of spring water from the mountain. She grabbed the soap and oils and put them in the water, her mind forcefully blank in the process, and soon she stripped down naked and stepped into the water. It was cold, but she didn't care. She was in search of a distraction from her haunting visions, but not even the frigid water could do it. She scrubbed her skin raw with her soap until was pink and tender, then detangled her hair a little too forcefully. Her fingers caught in the knots from her sleep - she didn't braid it before she went to bed as she typically had done in the past, and the tossing and turning from her nightmare probably didn't help in the matter. So she ran more oils into the ends to smooth the snares. After she washed herself off, she got out of the water and stared at her reflection in the mirror on the wall.

Bags under her eyes, bruises and scrapes on her pallid skin, a frown on her full lips. Not the visage of the glorious and pampered Princess she had once been.

Her frown deepened. _No longer a Princess_, she reminded herself. _It doesn't matter._

_"You are the heir to a throne of nothing."_

Her hands shook as the tight feeling that had been coiling in her chest for weeks grew even more until she could barely breathe. Tears burned in her eyes and she snatched the shears that were on the table near the mirror, meant for trimming hair. Her fingers wrapped around the golden locks of her hair - the symbol of her status, of her lineage, of Her blood - and she sliced the shears through it. It took longer than she anticipated, chopping through such thick strands, but soon they were gathered in her fist as the rest on her head fell jagged at her shoulders.

_Good riddance._

"Zelda? Zelda! Where are you?"

Her eyes were still locked on her fistful of hair, but she heard him. Her tears burned in her eyes, yet she could not reply. A knock came to the door and she didn't have time to cover up before it opened.

"Zelda -? Oh."

She met Link's eyes through the mirror, her tears finally falling, and a look of understanding passed over his face. Mindful of her nudity, he stepped into the building with his head bowed and eyes averted, then grabbed one of the towels that hung from the opposite wall. Carefully, he made his way to her side and took the shears from her trembling hand, then draped the towel over her shoulders. Silent as the grave, he was, as he gently pried her hair from her fingers and laid the heap of strands on the table.

A stool was set down behind her and he was careful as he guided her to sit. Then, with a practiced hand, he started to trim the ends of her hair.

It took a little while - her tears stopped falling and his silence stretched on - but soon the ends of her hair were even and Link was wrapping the towel tighter around her shoulders as he knelt down in front of her. His eyes never strayed from hers despite her indecency, and his face was full of concern.

"Are you alright?"

Words still escaped her. She couldn't even nod. She just stared at him, words and motions failing until she dropped her chin and inhaled a ragged breath.

He gave her a soft smile and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her to his chest. This comfort, this gesture, broke the dam and too soon she was sobbing into him as she clutched on for dear life.

The towel fell at some point in time, but Zelda reasoned Link had seen her already in such a state. And it didn't matter. Her status, her propriety, her decency no longer mattered. All that mattered was he was still here, holding her as her world crashed around her.

It wouldn't be the first time.

After a long while, long after her tears and sobs ceased, Link rubbed her back and motioned for her to get back in the tub. She did as she was told, numb during the whole process, and watched as he grabbed one of his elemental weapons out of his pack and out of the sheath. The flameblade's tip was dipped into the water on the opposite end, slowly warming it up to the point that it was no longer unbearable, and he retracted it once it started to steam.

Quietly, he grabbed some of the soap used for hair and rubbed it into her scalp, his nails scratching her just enough to be soothing. He rinsed it out - still completely silent - and then grabbed the oils she typically put on the ends. With her hair now barely reaching her shoulders, he didn't need to use much, but he still smoothed it through her strands in a careful and meticulous way.

His hands left her hair and rested on her shoulders, light and unassuming, and Zelda glanced back at him. He was staring at her, a thoughtful and cautious look on his face, and she looked away.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head and pulled her knees to her chest, then rested her chin on top.

"That's fine." He paused then his thumbs pressed into the tendons between her shoulder and neck. "I'll listen, whenever you do."

Tears threatened her eyes again and she simply nodded.

The silence stretched on further. Link's hands continued to knead her shoulders; his knuckles kept grazing the tips of her hair now that it was so short.

Her head felt so empty, her heart numb, but she did want to say one thing to him: "I want to get rid of it."

He simply nodded and replied, "I know a guy in town that would make good use of it. It's hard to find any materials that color for dyeing now. I'm sure he would be thankful and pay a good price for it."

Zelda nodded as well then looked away. "He'll have better use for it than me."

Link's hands paused. "Is this about the Princess thing we talked about last night?"

Her eyes prickled again. She decided not to lie, so she nodded again and held herself tighter.

She heard him sigh and his hands slid off her shoulders to rest on her back. "I'm sorry that you've been feeling like this. Though I wish you had talked to me sooner, even if you felt it was something small. I would have listened, regardless of what it was."

"I know you would have," she murmured, finding her voice. "I didn't want to burden you with my personal problems."

"It's never a burden for me to lighten yours," he remarked as he ran his fingers through her hair. The knots were all gone, so he poured water over her strands to wash out the oils and squeezed out the excess. "I would never want you to presume that I wouldn't want to help you."

Zelda turned then, facing him fully, and she rested her chin on the lip of the tub. "Why?"

His eyebrows rose and she pointedly ignored the way his eyes flickered to her body in the now-cloudy water, or how his cheeks seemed to get a tad bit rosier. "Why what?"

"Why do you want me to come to you?"

He paused for a moment, then his brow furrowed. "Because I care about you. And something is clearly bothering you and I want to be able to rest easy knowing that I did what I could to take care of you and help you."

She couldn't find a reply to that statement, so she looked away and sunk into the water.

"Now," Link started again, "will you tell me what's been bothering you?"

She shook her head slightly and he sighed.

"You know, sometimes I wonder if relearning all of my memories was worth it,' he started as he leaned back in his chair. She huffed and sank in to the water when the guilt of their past washed over her again. Link either didn't notice, or he didn't feel the need to comment, because he continued, "Every laugh, every friend, every moment is something we lost, that we will never experience again. But truthfully, having lost it meant we had it once, and to me that's better than never experiencing it at all. It's alright to grieve what we lost."

Zelda met his eyes again and saw the resolute fierceness there. He wouldn't back down, even if she kept pushing him away. There was no way he would let this go. She huffed and pressed her lips to the tub. "You talk more than you used to."

She chanced a glance at him to see the way his eyebrows shot up in surprise, his eyes curious and mouth pressed into a thin line. "Is that the problem?"

"Not at all," she replied as she shook her head. "It's just reminding me of how much that's changed since the Calamity... I suppose it's been piling up, one thing after another, until I suddenly realized I'm in a completely different world. This Hyrule is not the same that I learned as a child, and I feel there's no place for me here."

Link sighed and Zelda frowned. He gave her a small, reassuring smile, before he said, "I felt the same way when I first woke up in the Shrine. I had no idea who I was, where I was, what _anything _was. But eventually, as I spent time in this Hyrule and learned more about myself from before, I realized that I belong in this new place just as much as I did the old. I just had to open my eyes and acknowledge it."

Zelda couldn't help but let her own small smile grace her lips. Although she hadn't quite opened her own eyes to acknowledge it yet, the idealistic point of view Link had was reassuring. If he believed she would find her place in this new world, she had to believe him.

With a nod to herself, she stood and grabbed the towel from Link's lap. He was respectful enough to look away as she dried herself off, for which she was thankful. In her vulnerable state, she knew she wouldn't be able to handle his eyes roving her body in the hungry way he had done after some of their more heated kisses.

Now wasn't the time.

As she dressed, Link busied himself with braiding her chopped hair. Tied off on each end, he held a rope of golden strands that would no longer be her symbol of birth. The golden hair of the Royal Family was about as synonymous with Hylia as the powers She granted the females of the family. Although having it sheared to her shoulders didn't rid her of the color, the length and quality of her hair would no longer be a beacon of her status.

Or lack thereof, now.

Together, they walked back into the house and she went upstairs to put on her day clothes. As she did, Link went into town to sell some of his finds from his foraging and donate her hair to the Kochi Dye Shop. She stared at her reflection in the mirror Link had in the loft. Just as she saw in the bath house, the girl in her reflection was nothing like the Princess she was raised to be.

The bruises and scrapes were earned from their travels through the wilderness, and the thinness of her body was from the extra movements she had to do every day. The paleness, however, was from her worry. As were the dark bags under her eyes. But the shortened hair - cropped and drying in a way that made it poof out at the ends - seemed to... _fit. _More so than the long tresses she tended to so tediously before the Calamity.

A small smile graced her lips as Link stepped back into the house. Their eyes met and relief was clear on his face at her less-troubled appearance. He walked up the stairs and immediately pulled her into a hug, one she let completely envelope her. Her face buried into his chest and her body slotted up with his, leaving absolutely no space between them. Their touch was charged, but not in the way that caused unease or want. It was comfort and love.

Exactly what she needed.

"Let's have some lunch," Link murmured in her ear.

Zelda nodded in agreement and he disentangled himself from her before taking her hand and leading her down the stairs.

* * *

After they finished eating, it was decided they would need to set out again soon. This time with one destination in mind: Hyrule Castle. Once Zelda regaled to him her vision from her nightmare, Link immediately suggested they set out and research more on the subject. The Castle would be a good place to start. Whatever information they found there could be combined with anything they could glean from the Gerudo afterwards - considering it was that language the man in her dream spoke in his malicious tones.

Not one Blood Moon had passed since Link freed her from the Castle, yet a blood red sky as the backdrop to what was clearly a dead Gerudo man was a troublesome thought, knowing the lore passed down through the ages.

The morning after "the cut," Zelda watched Link read through a book he lifted from Purah regarding the ancient Sheikah Tech, then was tinkering with the Sheikah Slate while he muttered to himself. He wanted to check the traveling capacity of the Slate, just in case something happened while they were searching within the Castle. No one had gone in since Ganon was sealed away, so there was no telling what would still be lurking inside.

After he finally relented and decided to ask Purah for help, Zelda agreed and set about to closing up the house and packing a few bags. A trip to the Castle would take a few days, even with the horses. And who knew how long they would be in the Castle itself, so she wanted to be prepared.

Link returned around sundown with a frown and a flush to his cheeks. Her silent question was answered with his own silence, then he told her they would need to get some rest.

Zelda's sleep wasn't as fitful as it had been two nights prior, but it wasn't the greatest. Constantly she would wake to the sounds of Link tossing and turning on the cot beneath the stairs, his huffs and his sighs, too. He was just as restless as she, but her fear of his reaction stopped her from calling out to him to talk it over. So, a few hours before daybreak, she finally fell asleep and was able to rest for a bit before they planned to head out.

Link woke her at dawn. The horses were loaded up, the windows boarded, and his weapons packed. A breakfast of berry crepes waited for her, and after she gobbled it up Zelda quickly threw on her clothes and boots before heading outside.

Just as Link promised, once they started travelling he began teaching her some basics of weaponry and fighting. It started with the more simple things: names and purposes of different weapons, durability, locations in the kingdom, and the theory of fighting. He offered to take her to the shrine in Kakariko so she could learn from the monk in there, but she declined.

"You are more than capable of tutoring me personally, dear knight," she responded with an impish grin, her way of smoothing things over with him since the tension had come back.

His responding roguish grin and blush was worth the tease.

After swiping a decent Royal Bow off of a bokoblin near the Great Plateau, he handed it to her with a bundle of arrows. When they stopped for the night at the Outskirt Stable, he showed her how to handle a bow and how to aim depending on the strength of the bow. They spent a few hours in the grove of trees beneath the old Colosseum ruins practicing her shots, until her fingertips threatened to bleed from the constant pulling on the bow string.

Link handed her a pair of finger tabs that would protect them from now on.

Dinner was eaten late, almost by the time the moon was at its zenith, and Zelda settled for sleeping outside by the campfire while Link wiped down the Master Sword with practiced precision.

The sun rose and Zelda was woken by the smell of fried eggs and salted meat. They both ate quickly before packing up their horses and making their way to the center of Hyrule.

Zelda recalled the desecration of her kingdom sharply during the Great Calamity. Her time with Hylia dulled her vision of the ongoing destruction, but when her mortal eyes opened again she saw keenly what had been done to her home.

It didn't hurt any less each time she saw it.

Castle Town was a complete wasteland. Not one home stood and the foundations of businesses and inns were crumbled under the weight of scorched stones. The central square was a husk of what it had once been, and the empty shells of powered down Guardians only added to the tragedy that she walked through.

Link had left the horses to graze by the old Sacred Grounds with instructions to his dear Epona to go back to the stable if they didn't return before sundown. She wasn't sure if Epona understood, but he had faith that they would make it out before the day was over after a little digging around.

They crossed the bridge to the Castle, and Zelda was struck with how strangely intact everything was. Yes, there were broken pillars and towers that had caved in, and old skeletons that had all but turned to dust were now visible since the Malice that once coated the walkways and halls were gone. Yet there was still structure to her old home, something that could be built upon once the rest of the country was mended, if that was what she decided to do.

Link led her through the halls, avoiding collapsed corridors and rubble-filled stairwells. It didn't take long - for she knew these halls just as well as he - and they were passing the armory when the sounds of heavy footsteps thudded against the soiled carpets. Link hurried her into an alcove - once the doorway to an office - and place his finger to his lips to signal her to be quiet. A moment passed, the footsteps coming closer and closer, and like lightning Link bolted out of the alcove with his sword drawn.

The sounds of the metal biting into monstrous skin filled her ears - a strange sound, considering the lack of monsters they had encounter throughout their entirety of travels - and once silence returned she dared to peak around the corner.

A moblin - a silver one, at that - brought her attention to Link's perplexed stare at its corpse.

"Was there a silver on in here before?"

He shook his head. "Not in this part of the castle."

Link snagged the weapon it had been holding - a Royal Guard's claymore - and tucked it into his magical pack before reaching out to her. They continued on through the corridors, their silence echoing back at them against the stone walls. They emerged into the library at lunch time, seeing it completely devoid of monsters, and then went to work. Link handed her a rice ball and they ate in silence as they scoured the shelves of remaining books on Sheikah technology. Zelda had typically kept most of them on reserve, on an enclosed shelf on the lower level, and to her satisfaction they were still there. The pages were a little worse for wear - that's what one hundred years without care would do to _anything _\- and she was ginger as she leafed through the pages.

The first she picked up was the tome on the structures and proposed function of them. Now that the shrines and towers had been activated, it was almost completely obsolete. Next was another, this one red and labeled with the Sheikah language. Impa had gifted this to her specifically, and it was all in the ancient language she had rudimentary ability to read.

Based on the figures and drawings within the book, it might be one of the only books she would need for her research.

Link must have heard her sigh, because he was soon at her side, reading over her shoulder.

"Having trouble?"

She nodded and slid the book away. "I can't decipher what it says. I tried many times before the Calamity, but I never could understand the sentence structures that the Sheikah adopted. It's similar to Gerudo in their ordering of prepositions and nouns, but also like the Gorons in their pronoun usage, and the ancient Hylians used in the scripts describing the founding of Hyrule. Oh, and don't forget the way that Sheikah and Zonai are similar in their placements of verbs! After spending so much time away from it, I feel as if I don't remember _anything _about translating!"

She buried her head in her arms, her frustration mounting. If only she had taken more time to learn the differences in the language from Impa! She was one of the few Sheikah left that could read and speak the old language for the most part! Her knowledge would be paramount in figuring out all of these clues!

But wasn't that the problem in the first place? Impa had given her this book, for even she could not fully translate it. Everything she translated was inscribed in a separate book, one that had not helped her a century ago.

It was hopeless.

Link hummed and Zelda looked up to see him looking at the book, brows furrowed and eyes darting around the page.

"What are you-?"

"_Center, _or rather _central," _he murmured to himself. Gracefully, he slid into the chair next to her and his fingers skimmed under one of the paragraphs. _"The pillars are activated at the presence of Mali - _which probably was their word for 'malice' when this was written - _and... _Well this next word is hard to figure out. It either could be _loose _or _lock, _depending on how it was first transcribed into text."

Zelda's eyes were wide and she looked down at what he had read. It wasn't in Hylian, not even Gerudo. That entire paragraph was in _Sheikah, _and he read it with ease.

"How did you...?" She shook her head and turned to him fully. "How did you read that?"

Link shrugged and looked back to the page. "I spent a century in Sheikah tech, and then it was how the monks spoke to me. The Slate starts in Sheikah before translating itself, so I get the gist of how the word looks in Sheikah before it becomes Hylian."

Her jaw actually dropped. "You... You can read ancient Sheikah..."

He met her eyes again and gave her a weak smile.

Her thoughts ran wild with the possibilities - deciphering the shrines, the towers, the pillars - but her anxious mind first went to him. "Did you realize it at first?"

Link shook his head, then shrugged again. "I didn't really notice until I was getting off of the Great Plateau and nothing was in the language I had been reading since I woke up. You have to remember that your father spoke to me and I understood it, but that didn't mean I could comprehend it was a different language than I was reading. A lot of things I knew from the past were still in my head, but they were just mixed up or gone altogether. The fact that I apparently speak in a different accent than most people do these days was another thing that threw me off."

Her smile was sad when she softly apologized, then gestured for him to read more. His responding grin was reassuring, to say the least.

_"Sanctuary - _or maybe even _Sanctum - holds the key. _Now I know this is true, because of where I fought Calamity Ganon. There's what appears to be an astral observatory beneath the Castle. You said yourself that Ganon had to have had some sort of plan in place in order to corrupt the Sheikah weaponry. Perhaps there's something down there that will lead us somewhere."

Zelda nodded, then finally she noticed the tome Link had placed on the table while she was fretting over the Sheikah language. "What's that?"

He slid it towards her and opened it to a dog-eared page. "Perhaps this will help? You said the man was of Gerudo, and we both know that there hasn't been a male born to the Gerudo in over ten thousand years. Ever since the first appearance of Calamity Ganon, this book was filled with the history of Hyrule, including the dark smears."

Zelda read the dog-eared page and her mouth pulled into a frown. "Ganondorf? The King of Thieves..."

"It all leads back to him," Link remarked, "and the fabelled Hero of Time."

Their eyes met and they both nodded in affirmation. The books they needed were gathered together and put in Link's pack, then they snagged a few more tomes - including her father's unread journal from inside his study - and made their way back outside. The trip to the Sanctum was much longer than it was in her youth due to the destruction from one hundred years of neglect, but they were stepping inside the once proud center of Hyrule as the sun set over the Hebra Mountains.

Link stepped inside first, peering down into the hole that Ganon created in the floor, and then he dug into his pack. He pulled out a medallion of sorts and tossed it onto the ground by his feet. The ancient blue light of Sheikah tech lit up in a rune-filled circle, and before Zelda could question anything Link was jumping into the hole without a word.

Her scream in shock bounced off the empty walls of the throne room and she raced to the edge of the hole. Link was falling into the darkness below, plummeting down like her heart, then the sound of his paraglider opening echoed up to her.

The threat of nausea made her mouth get sticky.

She could faintly hear the sound of his feet landing on the floor, then not too moments later the sounds of him transporting with the Sheikah tech came from behind her.

Link reappeared in the circle that he had placed on the floor - and for a moment a million questions ran through her head again but the first thing she did was spring to her feet and slap him hard on the cheek.

He chuckled and rubbed the spot where her hand had landed and he stated, "I guess I deserved that."

"No shit!" she snapped. She saw the way his eyes flew open at her use of language, but she didn't care. "What in all hell's was that?! And what is this thing you threw on the ground?! What did you think you were doing?! And most importantly, what is down there?!"

His laughter got louder and he placed his hands on her shoulders to calm himself. "I had a sudden thought and I didn't want you talking me out of it, solely because of your reaction just now. What I threw on the ground was a Travel Medallion. I found it in Akkala when I first met Robbie, before coming to get you. It's easier than going all the way to the docks and running back up here before you died from a panic attack."

Zelda scowled. "That doesn't explain what you were doing."

Link sighed and removed his hands from her shoulders. He grabbed the Slate and pulled up the album, full of pictures from the chasm below. "There's a bunch of writing on the floor, similar to what is on the elevators in the Shrines, but it says Laboratory instead of Moving Plate. But it looks exactly like the elevators at the entrances. I looked around for a minute, trying to find anything that I could put the Slate onto that would trigger something, but it seems a lot was destroyed when I fought Ganon down there."

"So what are you saying?"

Link huffed and tucked the Slate back into his belt. "I think there's something else beneath there. I doubt that it would be the absolute lowest point of the Sheikah tech within the Castle if the pillars had come out from so deep. I would like to go back down and investigate a little further, if you're okay with waiting."

Her brows shot up and she took the Slate from him. She pulled up the pictures, then scrutinized them for every detail she could find. "It looks like the patterns on the walls are silhouettes of the skyline when standing in the center of the Castle. If you stand in the center of the room, it's the Sheikah Eye. Did you have to do anything in order for the elevators to work in the Shrines?"

He shook his head. "I just stood in the center of the lift and it brought me down. No warning or anything, it just started as soon as I was in place."

"Then perhaps you need to get into the right place."

Link met her eyes. "You're okay with me going back down without you?"

Zelda nodded then handed him the Slate again. "I'll look at the books again and figure out what else I can find."

He lingered for a moment, eyes searching, before he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. As he took the books out of his pack, he said to her, "I'll be back shortly."

"Be careful," she managed when he winked and darted off towards the hole. His leap into the abyss made her stomach drop again, but she was quickly reassured with the sound of his paraglider opening reached her at the top.

As she opened the book on the Sheikah technology and structures, Zelda's mind wandered. Link had the ability to read the Sheikah language almost seamlessly now, something that even the most studious of Sheikah scholars were unable to do a century ago. An ancient language thought to be dead, now resurrected with the resurrected Hero of Hyrule. There were so many possibilities with his ability to translate, especially in the book she held in her lap.

Her eyes drifted to the throne where her father used to sit, and the empty place next to it. She could research Sheikah tech until she died now that Link could read the inscriptions for her. The amount of knowledge they could glean in order to advance Hyrule, what they could do to prevent Ganon from corrupting the tech again, where more tech could be hiding, the source of the power to the tech...

Zelda's brow furrowed. That was a question she always asked herself leading up to the Calamity. Link proved the shrines and towers were powered up when he activated the Great Plateau tower with the Slate. However, that didn't explain _where _the power came from. Hyrule itself, perhaps? Knowledge not written had to be passed down verbally, but this was something no living Sheikah knew. Impa had told her that the monks for which each shrine was named gave their life energy to power the shrines, and that energy was expended when Link completed the trial, but that didn't explain the towers, the Divine Beasts, the pillars, the _Guardians. _What gave them power? Would what Link finds down in the laboratory give them some more information?

Or would all of this be a dead end?

She sighed and turned the page. A different drawing of the Champions of old was here, a depiction of the original four that piloted the Divine Beasts in their maiden voyages and the Goddess-Blood Princess and the Hero that wielded the Sword of Evil's Bane. It was in the style of the tapestry Impa owned in her home, but still detailed enough to understand that just as her Champions had been: one from each race and a golden-haired maiden with her strong protector.

Did they fret about the return of Ganon like she was when they defeated him? Did they worry about the future of the tech once it was no longer needed? She knew her ancestors had feared the Sheikah and forced them to cast aside their technology once Ganon was gone, but that had clearly not worked in their favor in the end. So much knowledge regarding it had been lost, only to be rediscovered and the purposes half-unknown.

It was now her responsibility to decide the fate of the Sheikah technology. The Divine Beasts had all retreated away, waiting for the next rise of the Calamity. But he was likely to try and seize control of them again, so it might be wiser to dispose of them all together, as well as the Guardians, shrines, and towers...

But the amount of knowledge they would lose...

Zelda closed the book and rubbed her eyes. It was that thirst for knowledge that caused the catastrophe of the last Calamity. They had been so eager to drink from the well but forgot where the water had come from. Ganon had ten thousand years to plan his counterattack against Hylia and Her people, while the Hylians had only a few years to prepare before he had struck.

It might be better to completely forsake the beasts that caused the destruction in the first place.

The sounds of Link arriving on the travel portal jerked her out of her reverie. She turned to him and stood as he strode to her before his body was completely formed, and he was grabbing her shoulders as he become complete again.

His eyes were wide and his grin wider, and he said, "It works. There's an entire cavern beneath the the laboratory."

_An entire cavern? What on earth could be down there?! Did her father know? How else could they get down there without going through the hole in the floor?_

Zelda blinked and then regained her composure after the shock of his declaration. "Is it something we can look at today?"

Link let her go and shook his head. "It was dark and went further than I could see. But from where the lift brought me, it looked like there's another entrance that goes to the mine shafts beneath the Castle. It would be much easier to use it than using the lift again."

"Are you saying we need to regroup and come back?"

He nodded. "I can place the travel medallion at the entrance from the mining caverns. I had to use a few bombs to clear it out, but now there's a way for us to get in and out without using the Sheikah Slate every time. The only caveat is that we need to find a way to get to the caverns in the first place."

"That could be rectified with a few more bombs, I think," Zelda remarked with a grin. Then, it slipped to a frown as she looked to their meager bags. "How much more supplies do you think we will need in order to excavate properly?"

"More than we can carry," he replied solemnly. She knew his train of thought went to _"we won't be able to do it at all."_

Her thoughts then went to a species of animals she knew had once been used in excavations deep in the mountains, before the Divine Beasts had been found. She didn't see any pictures of them in the compendium on the Slate, but there's a possibility there were still some roaming around the greater parts of the continent, just where Hylians couldn't go.

"Are you familiar with a Florian Ox?" she asked him as they started walking down the pathways that led them back to the castle proper.

Link's head tilted in a way reminiscent of a dog, the confusion on his face matching, and she couldn't help but giggle at his expression. After she sobered a second later, she said, "It was one of the types of animals used to excavate the mountains in search of the Divine Beasts. I didn't see any in the wild, so either they died out during the Calamity or they're hiding in the caves and mountains in the Faron Region. Either way, they're big and strong enough to carry any and all supplies we may need."

Link had a look of understanding wash over his face, and as he strode along side of her, he pulled up the map on the Sheikah Slate and placed a marker right on top of Lake Floria. "I suppose that means we will be making our trip to Faron after all?"

Her grin spread and she hooked her arm with his before placing a quick peck on his cheek. "Seems like it."

The silence of the Castle was behind them sooner than they knew it, and the wind was in her hair as they saddled up their loyal steeds and rode south to Lake Hylia, and perhaps the next clue into the mysteries of Hyrule.

* * *

_fin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shoot that took ages to write, but I am so happy with how it ended up. As you all know, I have no effing clue how to finish stories. Thanks again for reading!


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